Listed CEE property investor Immofinanz slumped into the red in the 2014-15 financial year due to the downturn in Russia and competition in the eastern European office market.
Listed CEE property investor Immofinanz slumped into the red in the 2014-15 financial year due to the downturn in Russia and competition in the eastern European office market.
Ahead of its full earnings presentation on 6 August, Immofinanz announced preliminary figures on Monday revealing a net loss of €361 mln for the year ended 30 April compared to a profit of €72 mln for the previous fiscal year.
‘This development is attributable above all to the current economic conditions in Russia, which were reflected in the valuation of the Moscow shopping centres, and to the write-down of a number of office properties in Eastern Europe because of the competitive market environment or pending modernisation projects,’ Immofinanz said in a statement.
Financial results were also hit by negative non-cash foreign exchange effects from the valuation of US dollar-financing for shopping centres in Moscow and a negative non-cash effect from the valuation of the exchangeable bond for shares in Buwog, Immofinanz’s residential property arm which was spun off via an IPO on the Frankfurt and Vienna stock exchanges in April 2014.
Due to the earnings situation and the uncertainty surrounding future forecasts for Russia, Immofinanz said it would propose skipping the dividend for the 2014-15 financial year. The board will also issue a statement on the property group’s future orientation on 7 August.
Immofinanz’s activities are concentrated in the retail, office and logistics sectors of eight regional core markets: Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Russia. The company’s property portfolio comprises more than 470 properties with a carrying amount of around €6.8 bn.
Immofinanz is included in the leading ATX index of the Vienna Stock Exchange and also trades on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.