DGAP-News: Aroundtown SA / Key word(s): 9 Month figures/Real Estate
Aroundtown SA announces 9m 2020 results in line with guidance, valuations
further supported by large disposals above book value
2020-11-25 / 06:51
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
*THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY
OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, SOUTH
AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION
OF APPLICABLE LAWS OR REGULATIONS*
*AROUNDTOWN ANNOUNCES 9M 2020 RESULTS IN LINE WITH GUIDANCE,
VALUATIONS FURTHER SUPPORTED BY LARGE DISPOSALS ABOVE BOOK VALUE*
_- _*Net rental income rose to &euro758 million *in 9M 2020, increasing 37%
from &euro555 million in 9M 2019
- *Adjusted EBITDA increased to &euro723 million* in 9M 2020, an increase of
30% compared to &euro557 million in 9M 2019
- *FFO I grew 18% to &euro438 million *in the first nine months of 2020, from
&euro371 million in 9M 2019
- *FFO I per share after perpetual lower by 3% year over year, amounting to
&euro0.28 per share *in 9M 2020
- *FFO I per share after perpetual, Covid adjusted decreased *in 9M 2020 *by
24% to &euro0.22* per share
- *Signed disposals of approx. &euro2.1 billion YTD, +3% above book value*.
Proceeds supporting liquidity, funding debt repayments and *accretive share
buyback totaling &euro1 billion,* generating significant accretive shareholder
value in the next periods to come. Further disposals of half a billion Euro
under advanced negotiations
- Supportive valuations, resulting in *revaluation gains of &euro736 million
in 9M 2020, +3.6% on a like-for-like basis.*
- *Net Profit for 9M 2020 of &euro812 million*, reflecting *EPS (basic) of
&euro0.44*
- *EPRA NAV amounting to &euro12.3 billion *and *EPRA NAV per share of
&euro9.3*, increasing by 16% and 7% respectively since December 2019.
- *Total Equity of &euro16.5 billion *reflecting an *equity ratio of 52%*
- *Investment property, excluding assets held for sale, of &euro21.8 billion*,
increasing from &euro18.1 billion as of Dec 2019, Group portfolio including
share in GCP of &euro25 billion as of September 2020.
*- *Strong liquidity position with *cash and liquid assets of over &euro2.5
billion* and substantial amount of *unencumbered assets* at the amount of
*&euro15.4 billion (74% of rent)*
- *Conservative capital structure maintained with low LTV at 34%, *well below
the 45% Board of Directors' limit, *ICR at 4.4x*, *long* *average debt
maturity of 6.2 years* and *low average cost of debt* *of 1.6%, *resulting in
*large headroom* to covenants and financial policy
- *Internal growth continued with a total net rent LFL growth of 1.7%*, with
1.5% coming from in-place rent increases, and 0.2% coming from increases in
occupancy
- *Partial dividend of &euro0.14 per share proposed for 2019*, pending
shareholder approval
- *Guidance for FY 2020 confirmed *
_25 November 2020._
Aroundtown's ("the Company" or "AT") collection rate excluding the hotel
portfolio in the nine-month period of 2020 amounted to 96%. The collection
rate is reflecting the strong diversification in asset types, locations,
tenants and tenant industries and is close to pre-pandemic levels. Including
the hotel portfolio, the collection rate in the nine months of 2020 amounted
to 85%, impacted from around 60% collection rate in the hotel portfolio,
including completed negotiations with hotel tenants for longer lease terms at
higher rents for the extended period in return for a rent free period. With
partially lifting pandemic-related restrictions, the hotel portfolio's
collection rate improved from 21% in the second quarter of 2020 to 58% in the
third quarter, confirming the strong recovery potential of the hotel
portfolio.
*YEAR-TO-DATE DISPOSALS ABOVE BOOK VALUE, VALIDATING VALUATIONS, INCREASING
PORTFOLIO QUALITY AND FUELING SHARE BUYBACK*
The Company has signed year to date ca. &euro2.1 billion of disposals,
primarily non-core and mature properties, of which over &euro770 million has
been closed within the reporting period. Furthermore, the Company has further
half a billion Euro of disposals under advanced negotiations. The disposed
properties are mainly retail and wholesale and primarily located in non-core
cities across Germany, resulting in a stronger portfolio focus on high quality
assets in top tier locations and thus enhancing the overall quality of the
portfolio. The properties have been disposed at +3% above book value at an
average multiple of 18x, validating property valuations. The proceeds from
these disposals have further strengthened the Company's strong liquidity
position, supporting the conservative financial profile through debt
repayments and providing fuel for the highly accretive share buyback by
reinvesting the funds into the Company at very attractive pricing, well below
transaction levels and most recent valuations. To date, Aroundtown has bought
back over 13% of its shares at an average price of approx. &euro4.9 per share,
a steep discount to the September 2020 EPRA NAV of &euro9.3 per share.
*GUIDANCE FOR FY 2020 CONFIRMED, WITH PARTIAL IMPACT FROM SHARE BUYBACK*
The Company confirms the guidance for full year 2020, with the FFO I after
perpetual expected to be in the range of &euro460-&euro485 million. The FFO I
per share after perpetual increased to &euro0.35-&euro0.37 from
&euro0.34-&euro0.36 per share, as a result of the share buyback program. The
per share mid-guidance is reflecting a yield of 4.7% (based on a share price
of &euro5.9). The impact from COVID is conservatively included as an
extraordinary and non-recurring item, resulting in an FFO I per share after
perpetual, COVID adjusted which increased to &euro0.26-&euro0.29 from
&euro0.25-&euro0.28. As the majority of the share buyback has been executed in
Q4 2020, its full effect on the FFO I per share will be in 2021.
*MANAGEMENT UPDATE*
Mr. Shmuel Mayo has agreed with the Board of Directors to retire from his
position as Co-CEO. Mr. Mayo will instead continue and serve the Company as an
advisor. Mr. Mayo commented: "It has been a great privilege to contribute to
Aroundtown's growth over the last years and to be part of this remarkable
team. I am stepping down from my position as Co-CEO due to personal reasons,
but I am glad to continue to contribute further as an advisor to the Company".
The financial statements for 9M 2020 are available on the Company's website:
https://www.aroundtown.de/investor-relations/publications/financial-reports
[1]
For definitions and reconciliations of the Alternative Performance Measures,
please see the relevant sections in the pages 42-45 of the 9M 2020 financial
statements. You can find the financial statements in AT's website under
Investor Relations > Publications > Financial Reports or under this link:
https://www.aroundtown.de/fileadmin/user_upload/04_investor_relations/download
s/2020/AT_Q3_2020.pdf [2]
*About the Company*
Aroundtown SA (symbol: AT1), trading on the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt
Stock Exchange, is the largest listed and highest rated (BBB+ by S&P) German
commercial real estate company. Aroundtown invests in income generating
quality properties with value-add potential in central locations in top tier
European cities mainly in Germany/NL.
Aroundtown SA (ISIN: LU1673108939) is a public limited liability company
(société anonyme) established under the laws of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg,
registered with the Luxembourg Trade and Companies Register (Registre de
Commerce et des Sociétés, Luxembourg) under number B217868, having its
registered office at 40, Rue du Curé, L-1368 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of
Luxembourg.
*Contact *
Timothy Wright
T: +352 288 313
E: info@aroundtown.de
www.aroundtown.de [3]
*DISCLAIMER *
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICITATION OF
AN OFFER TO BUY ANY SECURITIES.
THE SECURITIES MENTIONED IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT HAVE NOT BEEN, AND WILL NOT BE,
REGISTERED UNDER THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE
*SECURITIES ACT*), AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES ABSENT
REGISTRATION OR AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT. THERE
WILL BE NO PUBLIC OFFERING OF THE SECURITIES IN THE UNITED STATES.
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DIRECTED AT AND IS ONLY BEING DISTRIBUTED IN THE UNITED
KINGDOM TO (I) PERSONS WHO HAVE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN MATTERS RELATING TO
INVESTMENTS FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 19(5) OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS
ACT 2000 (FINANCIAL PROMOTION) ORDER 2005 (THE *ORDER*), (II) HIGH NET WORTH
ENTITIES, AND OTHER PERSONS TO WHOM IT MAY OTHERWISE LAWFULLY BE COMMUNICATED
FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 49 OF THE ORDER, AND (III) PERSONS TO WHOM IT MAY
OTHERWISE LAWFULLY BE COMMUNICATED (ALL SUCH PERSONS TOGETHER BEING REFERRED
TO AS *RELEVANT PERSONS*). THIS COMMUNICATION MUST NOT BE READ, ACTED ON OR
RELIED ON BY PERSONS WHO ARE NOT RELEVANT PERSONS. ANY INVESTMENT OR
INVESTMENT ACTIVITY TO WHICH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT RELATES IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO
RELEVANT PERSONS AND WILL BE ENGAGED IN ONLY WITH RELEVANT PERSONS.
IN MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA (*EEA*) AND THE UNITED KINGDOM,
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND ANY OFFER IF MADE SUBSEQUENTLY IS DIRECTED ONLY AT
PERSONS WHO ARE "QUALIFIED INVESTORS" WITHIN THE MEANING OF REGULATION (EU)
2017/1129, AS AMENDED (THE *PROSPECTUS REGULATION*) (*QUALIFIED INVESTORS*).
ANY PERSON IN THE EEA OR THE UNITED KINGDOM WHO ACQUIRES THE SECURITIES IN ANY
OFFER (AN *INVESTOR*) OR TO WHOM ANY OFFER OF THE SECURITIES IS MADE WILL BE
DEEMED TO HAVE REPRESENTED AND AGREED THAT IT IS A QUALIFIED INVESTOR. ANY
INVESTOR WILL ALSO BE DEEMED TO HAVE REPRESENTED AND AGREED THAT ANY
SECURITIES ACQUIRED BY IT IN THE OFFER HAVE NOT BEEN ACQUIRED ON BEHALF OF
PERSONS IN THE EEA OR THE UNITED KINGDOM OTHER THAN QUALIFIED INVESTORS, NOR
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
November 25, 2020 00:51 ET (05:51 GMT)