Austrian listed property group CA Immo expects to book higher net profit in the second half of 2015 than in the first six months of the year when it boosted net earnings by 67.4% to €55 mln.

Austrian listed property group CA Immo expects to book higher net profit in the second half of 2015 than in the first six months of the year when it boosted net earnings by 67.4% to €55 mln.

Based on concluded or ongoing negotiations, the company expects ‘a strong result’ from property disposals in the second half of the year.

In addition, the first-time consolidation of the EBRD portfolio will have a ‘significant’ positive effect on earnings in the third quarter, lifting net profit for the second half of 2015 above the result for the first six months.

Commenting on the results, Bruno Ettenauer, CEO of CA Immo, said: ‘CA Immo has made big steps in the realisation of the strategic objectives for 2015-2017. The buy-out of the EBRD minority stake, effective as at 1 July 2015, represents an important impetus towards the expansion of our portfolio to further boost our recurring profitability. In addition, sales of non-strategic properties continued in the first half of 2015.

‘At the same time, two development projects – the Kontorhaus in Munich and the John F. Kennedy Haus in Berlin – were successfully completed and transferred to the asset portfolio. CA Immo is well positioned in its core markets and benefits in particular from the positive market environment in Germany, which is broadly reflected in the half-year results 2015.’

CA Immo reported first-half FFO of €37.7 mln, up 5.4% on the €35.8 mln posted in the year-earlier period. CA Immo is targeting FFO of around €80 mln for the full year, up from €70 mln in 2014.

Rental income fell by 7.4% to €60.5 mln, reflecting asset disposals as part of CA Immo’s strategic portfolio restructuring and in particular the absence of a contribution from the Lipowy office building in Warsaw, which was sold at the end of the first quarter in 2014.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell nearly 30% to €50.2 mln.