FDR finalises EUR 380m of sales in Q4

French property investor and developer Fonciere des Regions (FDR) said it booked a 'very active' final quarter in 2008, concluding EUR 380 mln worth of asset sales and negotiating over EUR 160 mln of new sales commitments. This offset the cancellation of a portfolio transaction in the second half of 2008, FDR said in a statement on Thursday.

In total, sales and sales agreements amounted to EUR 1.3 bn in 2008, exceeding the EUR 1 bn target set at the beginning of the year. The assets were sold at an average of 8& above their values as appraised at end-December 2007.

FDR also said it signed new leases for almost 75,000 m² of office and logistics space in the final quarter, adding to the 42,000 m² leased in the CB 21 Tower in Paris in January.

The group's consolidated revenues totalled EUR 1.1 bn in 2008, up 23% on the year-earlier period. FDR said that the decline in asset values for the entire portfolio was less than 5% on average. The decline in values estimated by appraisers for FDR's assets in operation was in the range of 3% for the entire year.

Commenting on the results, FDR CEO Christophe Kullmann said: 'Our achievements in the fourth quarter 2008, the remarkable strength of our rental payment cash flows, and the initiatives undertaken to adapt to the crisis give me genuine confidence in the ability of Foncière des Régions to continue to provide innovative, competitive real estate solutions to leading companies.'