Zurich (awp) – The real estate company Hiag saw the revaluation of its buildings soar last year, allowing the Basel company to record a clear acceleration in profitability. Shareholders will therefore benefit from a slightly higher dividend, but lower than market forecasts.
In 2021, rental income increased by 5.7% to 63.1 million Swiss francs, while profit from revaluations more than doubled to 60.5 million, Hiag detailed on Monday in a press release.
This acceleration enabled the company to post an operating result (Ebit) of 115.1 million Swiss francs, multiplied by 65% compared to 2020. Net profit meanwhile accelerated by 61.2% to 89.3 million.
While the vacancy rate fell by 2.5 percentage points to 10.7%, the value of the property portfolio increased by 8.9% to 1.78 billion.
Shareholders will benefit from an increased dividend of 40 cents to 2.70 Swiss francs per share.
While the payment to the owners of securities was expected at an average of 2.90 Swiss francs per share, the income from the rents is in line with the expectations of analysts interviewed by the AWP agency. The net profit clearly exceeds the expectations of the financial community.
Thanks to a solid financial year, management expects to continue the momentum in 2022, without further details. In the long term, the company is counting on stable revenues and “a regular contribution to profits from all sectors of activity”. The finalization of construction projects should make it possible to support rental income.
al/ck