Realstone Development Fund doubles dividend
Realstone Development Fund reported a return on investment of 5.22% in the 2019 financial year. The dividend is to be doubled to CHF 3.80.
According to the Realstone Development Fund, the annual result for 2019 increased by just under 170% compared to the previous year. This was due to an increase in rental income and a reduction in expenses (-1.77%). The dividend will therefore be doubled to CHF 3.80 per share. As part of the cost reduction, the fund's operating expenses (TER GAV) also fell from 1.06% to 0.7%.
The fund's net assets increased by 3.7% to 690.7 million. The growth is attributable to revaluation effects of the real estate portfolio and capital gains from property sales, the report continues. Properties in La Tour-de-Peilz (VD) and Bellinzona (TI) were sold for a total of 88.2 million. The net asset value (NAV) of the Realstone Development Fund as at December 31, 2019 was CHF 136.43 per unit.
Gross fund assets fell to 967.5 million due to sales. However, the decline was largely offset by investments in the real estate portfolio. In particular, 234 new apartments were put into operation in the Les Arsenaux quarter in the center of Fribourg, and construction work also began on plots A and C in Horgen Oberdorf. 211 apartments are being built here.
Of the apartments in the Arsenaux building, 83% had been let by March 31, 2020. This suggests that the fund's operating cash flow will increase in 2020. The apartments in Horgen Oberdorf are to be put into operation in stages between winter 2020/2021 and summer 2022. This underlines "the fund's very positive outlook for the coming financial years", the press release continues. As the fund portfolio is strongly positioned in the residential sector and is only slightly dependent on the sectors that are most exposed to the potential economic impact of the coronavirus crisis, the fund management believes that the RDF fund should prove resilient in the current Covid-19 crisis. (ah)
