Colonia Real Estate AG confirms operational turnaround

Colonia Real Estate AG in line with the preliminary figures for 2009 expects consolidated income after taxes to be well back within the profit zone at EUR 9.0 million (previous year: EUR -82.9 million). While the previous year's income was burdened by impairments on the real estate portfolio, in the period under review the market value of group-owned real estate remained stable with a slight upward trend. This enabled positive earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of EUR 35.4 million (previous year: EUR -58.5 million) to be generated once more. In the period under review, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) adjusted for changes in market value came to EUR 32.7 million (previous year: EUR 12.7 million). The preliminary net asset value (NAV) remained almost stable compared with the previous quarter and at the end of the fourth quarter amounted to EUR 10.16 per share (September 30, 2009: EUR 10.19 per share).

Despite the sale of around 1,000 residential units in the 2009 financial year, net rental income remained virtually unchanged at EUR 59.1 million. Alongside the implementation of rental increases, it was primarily the optimization of property operating expenses which resulted in a considerable improvement in net operating income (NOI) which rose significantly from EUR 31.1 million to EUR 42.0 million and clearly reflects the successful management of the CRE real estate portfolio.

The final figures for the 2009 financial year will be released on March 30, 2010 at the accounts press conference.