Investis reports "excellent result" for 2020

Investis Group's revenue of CHF179 million was down from CHF188 million a year earlier, but the decline was due to the exit from serviced apartments and the sale of subsidiaries in the Real Estate Services segment in fiscal 2019, the company said.

EBITDA before revaluations and gains on disposals was 46 million (previous year: 47 million). Higher cash flows from properties and a lower discount rate would have led to further revaluations of 79 million, Investis said. The weighted average discount rate for the entire portfolio on a real basis was 3.15% (as of end-2020). The sale of individual properties had generated capital gains of 14 million, resulting in EBIT of 136 million - up 7.1% from 127 million a year earlier, it said.

Investis puts net profit at 114 million (2019: 173 million / 2018: 54 million) or CHF 8.91/share (2019: CHF 13.59 / 2018: CHF 4.27); excluding revaluation effect, net profit reached 45 million. The figures from 2019 are only suitable for comparison to a limited extent, as they were characterized by the one-time reversal of tax liabilities and gains on the sale of subsidiaries.

Total assets as of December 31, 2020 were 1.56 billion with an equity ratio of 53% (47%).

The net book value (NAV) per share excluding deferred taxes related to real estate increased to CHF 74.80 (CHF 67.61) compared to the previous year.

Properties segment clearly up

According to Investis, the Properties segment achieved revenues of 58 million, an increase of 1.6% year-on-year. Like-for-like rental income also increased by 1.6%. EBIT in the Properties segment climbed from 103 million to 131 million, an increase of 27.3%. This result includes both revaluation effects and gains on disposals.

The portfolio value at the end of the year was 1.49 billion, an increase of 3.6%. The real estate portfolio is composed of 167 buildings and more than 3,000 residential units in central locations in the Lake Geneva region. Vacancy decreased from 3.2% to 3.0%. Annualized target rental income was 58.6M as of Dec.31, 2020, down from 61.2M a year earlier, according to the data. The decline was due to the sales of majority commercial properties in the second half of 2020, Investis said. After the sales, residential properties account for 95% of the total portfolio.

Investis generated sales of 125 million from real estate-related services, 21 million less than in the previous year. Adjusted for the sales of the previous year, however, sales increased by 9 million, both due to organic growth at Privera and Hauswartprofis and to various acquisitions. At 10.8 million, operating profit (EBIT) in the Real Estate Services segment was slightly down on the previous year (11.5 million). According to Investis, personnel resources had to be increased for the additional services required as a result of the pandemic.

In the current year, Investis intends to further expand its real estate portfolio by investing in attractive locations with a focus on the Lake Geneva region. In the Real Estate Services segment, the focus is on profitable sales growth and selective acquisitions.