Corio swings back into the black in H1

Listed retail property specialist Corio swung back into the black in the first half of the year with a net profit of EUR 158 mln following a loss of EUR 196.4 mln in the year-earlier period. The turnaround was attributed to an increase in the value of the portfolio and a decline in net financing expenses. Retail accounts for 95% of the portfolio.

The direct result was up 19.5% at EUR 121.7 mln. However, the direct result per share slipped EUR 0.04 to EUR 1.46 reflecting the expanded share capital in 2009 and 2010.

In the first half, the Amsterdam-listed company booked a positive valuation of EUR 62.7 mln compared to writedowns totalling EUR 341.2 mln a year ago. Net financing expense fell by EUR 2 mln to EUR 47 mln. Acquisitions boosted net rental income by 11% to EUR 183 mln but like-for-like net rental income increased by only 1.3%.

'The fragile recovery in European commercial real estate investment markets of 2009 was sustained during the first half of 2010,' CEO Gerard Groener said in a press release. 'Despite new stress factors such as the sovereign debt crisis and still weak consumer spend, the value of Corio's portfolio increased and like-for-like performance remained positive as before.'

At end-June, the value of the property portfolio stood at EUR 6.99 bn compared to EUR 5.88 bn at end-2009. The development pipeline increased by EUR 700 mln to EUR 2.96 bn thanks to the acquisition of parts of the Multi Corporation portfolio earlier this year.