Espace Real Estate achieves record result
The 2019 financial year was a pleasing one for Espace Real Estate Holding: Profit for the period increased by CHF 29% to CHF 16.8 million.
Espace Real Estate Holding achieved the best result in its history in the 2019 financial year: profit for the period, including revaluation, rose to CHF 16.8 million (previous year: 13.1 million), an increase of 3.7 million or 29%.
Excluding the effects of revaluation, profit increased to 14.9 million (previous year: 12.7 million). The operating result (EBIT) increased byTP2T 9.751 to 26.1 million (previous year: 23.8 million). According to the company, the result for the period was positively influenced by the tax reform in some cantons. This special effect led to a reduction in provisions for deferred taxes of 1.4 million. The overall performance (incl. dividend) of the Espace share in the reporting year was +26.6%.
The fiscal year was marked by the first-time occupancy of several residential buildings in Espace's home territory and the opening of the Schaffner Group's headquarters in Luterbach. A total of 171 apartments were completed and handed over to tenants. According to Espace's management, the first lettings of these residential projects were "very pleasing". As a result of the rentals, net rental income rose to 26.6 million (previous year: 25.8 million). The vacancy rate of investment properties fell by 0.65 percentage points to 6.67%, of which around two-thirds is accounted for by commercially used properties. The value of the real estate portfolio increased to 700.3 million.
The Board of Directors will nevertheless propose to the Annual General Meeting on May 15, 2020, the distribution of an unchanged dividend from capital contribution reserves of 4.75 per share, as the consequences of the Corona crisis cannot be foreseen at this point in time. (bw)
