Mercialys, the property unit of French food retailer Groupe Casino, said first-half operating income rose 26.5% from the year-earlier period to EUR 35.1 mln, driven by strong sales growth, as rental revenues increased 22.2% to EUR 48.4 mln. The company said the value of its portfolio had risen 20% to EUR 1.6 bn since year-end 2006, while the average yield on its portfolio fell to 5.8% compared with 6.3% at end-December. Net profit rose 22% to EUR 36.2 mln in the first half of the year.
Mercialys, the property unit of French food retailer Groupe Casino, said first-half operating income rose 26.5% from the year-earlier period to EUR 35.1 mln, driven by strong sales growth, as rental revenues increased 22.2% to EUR 48.4 mln. The company said the value of its portfolio had risen 20% to EUR 1.6 bn since year-end 2006, while the average yield on its portfolio fell to 5.8% compared with 6.3% at end-December. Net profit rose 22% to EUR 36.2 mln in the first half of the year.
Mercialys said its business performance was ‘solid.’ It said 117 leases had been renewed or relet in the six-month period, with 32% year-on-year growth in renewal rents and 111% in relets. Mercialys shareholders will be paid an interim dividend of EUR 0.36 per share in October.
The company said the first half saw some EUR 89 mln of acquisitions signed or under contract, with an average yield on those properties of about 7%. It said it had won seven tenders to develop new shopping centres in the first half of 2007, boosting its development pipeline, currently worth EUR 515 mln, compared with EUR 470 mln at year-end 2006.
In an effort to improve the value of its existing portfolio, Mercialys plans to invest EUR 425 mln in the improvement of 80 sites, with another 29 sites still under review.