Baloise Swiss Property Fund increases distribution

Although the Baloise Swiss Property Fund's borrowing costs more than doubled compared with the previous year, net income rose by CHF 20.01TP3k to CHF 26.17 million. The fund management company attributes this to higher target rental income (+21.0%), which in turn resulted from acquisitions and increases in rental income in the portfolio. In addition, the rental loss rate was further reduced to 3.1%. The third reason given by Baloise is the reduction in the maintenance ratio from 14.6% to 11.8%, which in turn is interpreted as a consequence of the rejuvenation of the portfolio that has been targeted since 2023. "Due to these positive developments, the fund management was able to increase the distribution per unit from CHF 3.00 to CHF 3.10," writes Baloise in a press release. At the bottom line, the overall result also improved significantly, from CHF 4.2 million to CHF 19.6 million. This was mainly due to unrealized capital losses, which at CHF -8.4 million were significantly lower in the financial year than in the previous year (CHF -17.9 million).

The fund acquired six properties for CHF 126 million during the financial year with the proceeds of a capital increase (IB reported). In contrast, three smaller properties were sold for a total sales price of CHF 17.30 million. The sales resulted in a profit of CHF 1.30 million. The fund is set to grow further: "Our low debt ratio of 15.8% gives us scope for attractive acquisitions and value-enhancing investments," writes Baloise. (aw)