Nordic listed retail specialist Citycon expects full-year furnover to fall by €1-7 mln due to a weaker Swedish krona and the sale of assets.after reporting a 2.5% decrease in turnover in the first quarter of the year.
Nordic listed retail specialist Citycon expects full-year furnover to fall by €1-7 mln due to a weaker Swedish krona and the sale of assets.after reporting a 2.5% decrease in turnover in the first quarter of the year.
In the first three months, the Helsinki-based company saw turnover slip to €61.3 mln compared to €62.9 mln in the same period a year before.
EPRA operating profit is also expected to drop by €2–6 mln this year, versus the €149 mln reported in 2013, the company said in a statement. Citycon is forecasting EPRA earnings per share of €0.20–0.22, versus €0.20 in 2013.
'Year 2014 started positively despite the challenging market conditions especially in Finland,' commented Citycon's Chief Executive Officer Marcel Kokkeel. 'Like-for-like net rental income increased by 3.9%, which is a solid result in a low inflation environment. EPRA earnings per share remained close to the same level as last year including the full impact of the increased number of shares from the rights issue executed in March 2013.'
He added: 'We expect the market conditions to remain tough especially in Finland though the latest forecasts indicate that the Finnish economy has bottomed out. Citycon’s focus in 2014 will continue to be on cost control and increased leasing efforts.'
