Swiss Central City: fund posts a loss in 2023
According to preliminary figures, the real estate fund posted a negative overall result of CHF 20.4 million due to devaluations and capital losses from sales.
In the past year, the Swiss Central City Real Estate Fund as announced several properties sold. Transfers of ownership of properties in Basel and St. Gallen were completed for four smaller properties in December 2023 with a total volume of CHF 17.6 million, and for two more in January 2024 with a volume of CHF 8.5 million. The sale or transfer of ownership of three properties for CHF 17.2 million is currently still planned for the first half of 2024.
In addition, two residential construction projects in St. Gallen and Zurich were completed in 2023, space in Geneva was relet and contracts for larger retail spaces in Basel were extended. The fund's vacancy rate excluding projects fell from 4.3 to 3.2%. Adjusted for the sales, target rents rose by around CHF 7% to CHF 19.9 million. This was due in particular to the completions at Luisenstrasse 40 in Zurich and Lindenstrasse 155 in St. Gallen. Actual rental income, on the other hand, increased by CHF 12% to CHF 19.8 million compared with the same period of the previous year.
The real estate portfolio was devalued by CHF 26.0 million in 2023, compared to an appreciation of CHF 10.3 million in the previous year. In addition, the property divestments led to realized capital losses of CHF -7.3 million in the reporting year. The cash inflow from the sales reduced the debt ratio to 28.9% as at the end of January 2024. The fund's overall result for the 2023 reporting year is expected to be CHF -20.4 million (2022: CHF +15.6 million). Total fund assets decreased from CHF 622.2 million to CHF 580.2 million. (aw)
