French office property giant Gecina is stepping up its asset rotation programme and said sales are expected to hit EUR 1.2 bn in 2012, versus the EUR 1 bn full-year target set at the beginning of the year.
French office property giant Gecina is stepping up its asset rotation programme and said sales are expected to hit EUR 1.2 bn in 2012, versus the EUR 1 bn full-year target set at the beginning of the year.
The Paris-based company has sold or is in preliminary agreements to sell EUR 975 mln worth of assets, consisting primarily of traditional residential and logistics real estate. The disposal programme is aimed at reducing the group's loan to value ratio to 40% and to refocus the business around the group's target markets.
Gecina is targeting a 70% exposure to offices, with healthcare, residential and student housing planned to represent the remaining 30% of its portfolio.
The real estate investment trust saw recurrent net income per share rise 2.4% to EUR 2.71 in the first half, from EUR 2.65 a year before. It has revised its forecast of a 5% contraction in recurrent net income for the full year to just 2%.
Gross rental income came to EUR 303 mln in mid-June 2012, a drop of 5.9% on the first half of 2011, mainly due to the loss of rent as a result of divestments. Last week, the company sold almost the entirety of its logistics portfolio to Blackstone in a deal worth over EUR 200 mln.
