Sonae Sierra swung to a net loss of EUR 87.5 mln in the first quarter of this year from a net profit of EUR 21.8 mln in the same period of last year. The company said the variation in net profit was mainly driven by Indirect Net Profit that were adversely affected by the continuous increases in market capitalisation yields in Europe. In the same period Sonae Sierra's Direct Net Profit reached EUR 17.5, compared to the EUR 15.6 mln in Q1 2008.
Sonae Sierra swung to a net loss of EUR 87.5 mln in the first quarter of this year from a net profit of EUR 21.8 mln in the same period of last year. The company said the variation in net profit was mainly driven by Indirect Net Profit that were adversely affected by the continuous increases in market capitalisation yields in Europe. In the same period Sonae Sierra's Direct Net Profit reached EUR 17.5, compared to the EUR 15.6 mln in Q1 2008.
'The market value of the investment properties are being affected by the negative climate now prevailing in the properties markets of most of the developed countries where the company operates. This context led to an upwards shift of the capitalisation yields applied in the valuations carried out on assets in those countries, this increase implying a reduction in the value of the corresponding property,' the company said.
At the end of the first quarter of 2009 the company was developing three new shopping centres and one expansion and has in the pipeline a total of 13 shopping centres and 11 new projects are in different stages of completion in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, Greece, Romania and Brazil, that represent more than one million m2 of Gross Lettable Area (GLA).