Alstria readies itself to seize opportunities

Alstria Office-REIT, the first real estate investment trust in Germany, has said it well positioned to seize opportunities it sees in the market. 'In the past two years we have successfully focused on strengthening our balance sheet and our operational platform. Today we are well positioned, having no legacy issue and being stronger compared to the pre-crisis situation,' said Alstria CEO Olivier Elamine.

The company has carried out three office investments in its core market of Hamburg so far this year. 'The recent acquisitions proved our ability to identify and execute accretive acquisitions. We firmly believe that there are attractive market opportunities coming up and the beneficiaries will be well-capitalized companies with strong operational focus like Alstria.'

During 2010 Alstria took advantage of strong demand for core assets and disposed real estate assets worth EUR 166 mln. The sales were completed at an average premium of 8% to book value and an average disposal yield of 4.9%. At end-December Alstria's investment property totalled EUR 1.35 bn. The decline of about 5% compared to December 2009 was mainly attributable to the asset disposals last year.

In the 2010 Alstria generated revenues of EUR 89.1 mln. The decline of 13.1% year-on-year was again mainly attributable to the disposal of real estate assets. Net profit came to EUR 200,000 compared to - EUR 80 mln in 2009. The substantial improvement was mainly driven by lower net devaluations on the properties (EUR 700,000 in 2010 versus negative EUR 86 mln in 2009.