HSO Fund shows investment return of 11.8%

The real estate portfolio of the Helvetica Swiss Opportunity Fund (HSO Fund) comprised five special-purpose properties with an annual target rental income of CHF 6.1 million at the end of 2020. The leases have a WAULT of 8.3 years as of year-end 2020. The largest tenant with around 35% of the target rental income is Manor AG.

In the 2020 financial year, rental income was 5.7m, according to Helvetica Property Investors, although it should be noted that a pharmaceutical logistics property was only added to the portfolio as of July 1, 2020 and therefore did not yet contribute the full rental income potential in the 2020 reporting year. The occupancy rate as of the December 31, 2020 reporting date was 99.0%. The Fund Management estimates the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the HSO Fund's rental income to be 0.3M, which represents 4.6% of target rental income.

Net income in fiscal 2020 was reportedly 5.1 million; the operating profit margin was 74.2% and the average interest rate on debt financing was 0.5%. The valuation of the property portfolio by the independent valuation expert Wüest Partner had resulted in an unrealized gain of 4.5 million. Total income amounted to 8.3 million.

Total fund assets as of December 31, 2020 were 111.6 million, of which 110.3 million were portfolio properties. The leverage ratio is reported at 21.3%. The fund's net assets at the end of 2020 stood at 83.9 million, and the net asset value per fund unit is reported to be CHF111.82, representing an increase in value of 11.8% since the fund's initial offering in November 2019. The distribution for fiscal 2020 totals 4.5 million, or CHF 6.00 per fund unit.

In order to further expand and diversify the portfolio along the investment strategy, a capital increase is planned in the course of 2021, according to the fund management. (ah)