The committee of the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA) has approved the inclusion of Immofinanz in the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Emerging Europe Index. The move follows hard on the heels of the announcement last week that Immofinanz has become the first real estate company to join the ATX five which comprises the five highest-weighted stocks in the Austrian ATX index.
The committee of the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA) has approved the inclusion of Immofinanz in the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Emerging Europe Index. The move follows hard on the heels of the announcement last week that Immofinanz has become the first real estate company to join the ATX five which comprises the five highest-weighted stocks in the Austrian ATX index.
The EPRA index committee said the Vienna-listed company had met the key criteria for inclusion in the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Emerging Europe Index as a major component of its EBITDA is now generated in the so-called 'emerging markets'. The company's weighting in the index will be announced on 19 March when the move takes effect.
It is calculated by dividing the company's free float market capitalisation by the free float market capitalisation of all other index-relevant companies.
Immofinanz was added to the leading index of the Vienna Stock Exchange in March 2011 and has a 100% free float market capitalisation.
Eduard Zehetner, Chairman of the Executive Board of Immofinanz, said the EPRA announcement represents a further important step in the development of the company's share. 'This step will give the Immofinanz share not only greater international visibility, but also higher liquidity. Additionally, inclusion in the EPRA Emerging Index underscores our role as a key player in Eastern Europe.'
The European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA) is the lobby organisation for major listed real estate companies in Europe. The committee meetings are held quarterly at the beginning of March, June, September and December. Together with the US-based National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) and the FTSE (a joint venture between the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange), EPRA develops the guidelines for a well-known group of indices which serve as a benchmark for listed real estate companies throughout the world.
Immofinanz claims to be one of the five largest listed property companies in Europe with more than 1,600 standing investment properties valued at EUR 8.7 bn. The company is active in the retail, office, logistics and residential segments of eight regional core markets: Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Russia.
