Retail specialist Klépierre is planning to spend between EUR 500-800 mln on new acquisitions this year and to divest between EUR 250-400 mln as part of its ongoing asset disposal programme. The Paris-listed company made the announcement at the presentation of its 2009 earnings figures after bourse on Tuesday.
Retail specialist Klépierre is planning to spend between EUR 500-800 mln on new acquisitions this year and to divest between EUR 250-400 mln as part of its ongoing asset disposal programme. The Paris-listed company made the announcement at the presentation of its 2009 earnings figures after bourse on Tuesday.
Rental income over the year rose 24% to EUR 880.1 mln, boosted by the first full-year contribution of Scandinavia’s largest mall operator Steen & Strøm. However, net income fell 19% to EUR 162.1 mln due to higher debt costs flowing from the October 2008 purchase of the Stockholm-based company.
The earnings decline also reflected a 7.2% decrease of the value of Klépierre’s portfolio which came to EUR 14.7 bn at year-end 2009. However, the rate of decline stabilized in the second half of the year, the company said in a press statement. Retail accounts for 92.6% of the portfolio and offices 7.4%.
The group’s Loan-to-Value ratio is currently 49.4% while the banking covenant threshold is 63% after renegotiation in 2009. For the medium term, Klépierre claims it has the resources needed to exploit its development pipeline of EUR 2.8 bn, of which around 25% is committed.
Following the acquisition of Steen & Strøm, the share of France/Belgium in the portfolio has fallen to 43% with Scandinavia accounting for 19% of the total. Italy and Greece (11%), Iberia (9%) and Central Europe (8%) make up the remainder.
