Eurocommercial sees 5% rise in rental income

Eurocommercial Properties saw its rental income rise 5% to €172 mln in the 12 months to June 30, compared with €163 mln in the year-earlier period.

The direct investment result came to €81.5 mln at end-June, reflecting a 2.5% increase on the €79.5 mln booked a year earlier.

The NYSE Euronext Amsterdam-listed shopping centre group said property values decreased slightly by 0.1% over the past 12 months, but were up 0.4% on December 2012.

Like-for-like rental growth for Eurocommercial’s entire portfolio was 2.8% in the year to 30 June 2013, with the best performance coming from France at 4.1%, followed by Italy and Sweden with 2.6% and 1.2% respectively.

Over the summer, Eurocommercial sold Passy Plaza, Paris 16, for €141 mln and re-invested the proceeds in the acquisition of Centre Commercial Val Thoiry in Geneva for a gross cost of €111.5 mln.

In a presentation on Friday of the full-year results, the company's management mentioned that 'the best value for acquisitions is currently seen in Italy' while the company may be considering selling selected malls given the strength of the French market for investment in medium-sized malls.

Eurocommercial owns a €7.6 bn portfolio focused on shopping centres in Sweden, France, and Italy. Its most valuable asset is the Ingelsta shopping centre in Norrköping, Sweden. The average yield on the company's portfolio was 5.7%.

'We see this as a strong set of numbers,' commented analyst Kai Klose of Berenberg Bank. 'We are not worried about ECP’s exposure to Italy, which is holding up reasonably well, as France and Sweden have.'