Dutch firm NSI retreats from Swiss market

Amsterdam-listed real estate company NSI said on Thursday it intends to pull out of Switzerland to focus on the Netherlands and Belgium. The strategic rethink comes shortly after the completion of NSI's merger with Dutch peer VastNed Offices / Industrial.

NSI said Switzerland is no longer a core market and that returns are significantly higher in the two main Benelux countries.

The company's Swiss portfolio consists of 15,000 m² of office space in Thalwill and Fribourg and 22,000 m² of retail space in Fribourg and Zug. The portfolio is valued at CHF 148 mln (EUR 121 mln) and generates net annual rental income of CHF 6.6 mln.

NSI said it will leave the Swiss market in the near future 'if the opportunity to do so arises at good prices'. Selling the Swiss portfolio will have a positive effect on the company’s loan-to-value ratio of around 2-2.5%.

'Our Swiss portfolio has been performing very well. Over the years the value of our properties has been very stable, even increasing in times when other markets were declining. However when the prospect of growth at attractive returns is rather limited, one has to conclude that now is the right time to start selling our Swiss properties and add value for our shareholders,' Johan Buijs, CEO of NSI, said. 'Moreover, we will increase value by selectively divesting parts of our Dutch office portfolio.' The company is intensifying the disposal of smaller, non-core office buildings in the Netherlands and plans to divest around EUR 50 mln in 2012.

NSI owns office and retail assets valued at a total of EUR 2.3 bn.