Immofinanz reports net profit of 295.7 million Euro in first nine months

Immofinanz announces its result of operations rose by nearly 60 percent year-on-year to 180.4 million Euro in the first three quarters of 2021. Net profit turned positive at 295.7 million Euro and surpassed the pre-crisis level in 2019 (Q1–3 2019: 202.6 million Euro).

“Immofinanz is again moving rapidly from one strong quarter to the other after the corona year in 2020, despite the ongoing effects of the pandemic on our business activities. Even though we are seeing a substantial rise in infections in many of our core countries, we are very optimistic over results for the full 2021 financial year. Sound performance in the first three quarters and a positive outlook for the remainder of the year prove that we took the right steps during the crisis. We are emerging stronger from this pandemic and have built the foundation for future-value creating growth. Our sustainable success is based on a clear portfolio strategy with crisis-resistant brands and flexible and innovative offers“, explained Dietmar Reindl, COO of Immofinanz. “Based on our very good market position, we are planning to expand the portfolio with our STOP SHOP and myhive brands from the current volume of EUR 5 billion to roughly EUR 6 billion in 2022.“

Immofinanz’s property portfolio totalled approximately EUR 5.0 billion at the end of September 2021.  Of this total, approximately 63 percent are attributable to the office business and 36 percent to the retail business. The portfolio strategy is based on clearly defined brands with flexible and innovative offers and strong customer orientation. These factors, in combination, allow IMMOFINANZ to meet the needs of buyers in the retail business and tenants in the office business. The roll-out of the flexible myhive office products has continued in 2021. The demand for these short-term bookable, flexible office solutions is developing very well, and there are currently waiting lists at several locations.

In the retail business, COVID-19 containment measures resulted in the temporary shutdown of roughly 15 percent of Immofinanz’s retail space at the end of November but this space is expected to re-open before Christmas. The earlier waves in the COVID-19 pandemic were followed by the very rapid recovery of visitor traffic in the retail parks after the end of the lockdowns as well as an increase in the turnover per visit. In the first nine months of 2021, in the STOP SHOP properties retail turnover was 10.0 percent higher than the comparable period in 2020. Footfall in the STOP SHOPs was 3.2 percent lower than the previous year during the months from January to September 2021 – including the COVID-19-related shutdown days. For the VIVO! shopping centers, footfall was 13.8 percent higher, while retail revenues rose by 25.0 percent. This sizeable increase is attributable, above all, to the four VIVO! shopping centers in Romania, which were affected by extensive shutdowns in the previous year up to mid-June 2020.

The standing investment portfolio has a gross return of 5.9 percent based on IFRS rental income and a return of 6.3 percent based on invoiced rents. At 94.1 percent (31 December 2020: 96.0 percent), the occupancy rate remained at a high international level. The retail properties are practically fully rented at 97.4 percent, and the STOP SHOPs can demonstrate an even higher 99.0 percent. The occupancy rate in the office business declined slightly to 90.2 percent during the first three quarters – however, this is mainly due to the reduction of space by a large tenant in Germany who was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The first new tenants will soon move into these vacant areas. Take-up amounted to roughly 337,800 sqm in the first nine months of 2021, which represents 17 percent of the total rentable space. In the office properties, take-up nearly reached the 2019 pre-crisis level at 106,000 sqm.