Warteck Invest: 2022 profit down due to valuation
Warteck Invest's profit including revaluation decreased by 20.7% to CHF 21.8 million. In view of the political and economic upheavals in 2022, this is a good result, the company said.
Excluding the significantly lower revaluation result, profit was CHF 17.8 million, exceeding the previous year's figure by 2.0%. The market value of the real estate portfolio increased by 3.0% to CHF 900.4 million, which was due to investments in the portfolio as well as revaluations.
No acquisitions due to high prices
Target rental income increased slightly by 0.7% to CHF 37.1 million in the reporting year. Rental income improved by 1.7 % to CHF 31.3 million. Meanwhile, the largest cost block, financial expenses, grew by 10.2% to CHF 6.0 million due to the higher loan portfolio and higher interest rates. However, the average capital-weighted interest rate paid on loans increased only slightly from 1.4 to 1.5%. Warteck 2022 refrained from acquisitions and justified this with the high prices. In contrast to the two previous years, no rent reductions due to Corona had to be granted in the reporting year. The vacancy rate fell from 2.4 to 2.0%.
Performance above benchmark
Warteck Invest's share price declined by 4.6% in the reporting year. Together with the May 2022 distribution of CHF 70.00, the shares generated a total return of -1.7% last year, outperforming the benchmark, the SXI Swiss Real Estate All Shares Index (-9.2%). The payout is also expected to be CHF 70.00 per share for 2022, corresponding to a dividend yield of 3.1%.
At the next Annual General Meeting, a capital band will be voted on to ensure flexibility for further growth. The Board of Directors proposes a capital increase range of CHF 2.475 billion to CHF 3.094 billion for the next five years. (aw)
