Vasakronan FY net advances to EUR 491m on value increases

Swedish property investor Vasakronan reported full-year 2007 net profit of SEK 4.65 bn (EUR 491.3 mln) on Thursday, up from SEK 3.41 bn (EUR 360.2 mln) a year earlier. The firm said the growth was due to unrealised increases in the value of its property portfolio, improved operating surplus and net financial items.

The Swedish company said the market value of its property portfolio increased to SEK 45.2 bn from SEK 38.1 bn at year-end 2006, representing a 12.5% unrealised increase in value, largely due to a rise in market rents.

Income after financial items and before value changes came in at SEK 1.6 bn, up from SEK 1.3 bn in 2006. In the fourth quarter, this figure was SEK 441 mln, compared with SEK 223 mln in the last quarter of 2006. Rental income rose to SEK 2.847 bn from SEK 2.681 bn in 2006. Contracted annual rent jumped to SEK 3.324 bn, up 16% on the year-earlier period, while the vacancy rate fell to 4% from 7% in 2006.

Vasakronan said its project portfolio rose to SEK 3.145 bn from SEK 2.841 bn in 2006, and investment increased to SEK 1.667 bn from SEL 1.074 bn a year earlier.

The company said it will propose a full-year dividend of SEK 791 mln, up from SEK 698 mln in 2006. For 2008, it forecast profit after net financial items, before value changes and excluding gains from the sale of building rights, of around SEK 1.5 bn, compared with SEK 1.477 bn in 2007.