HOCHTIEF Real Estate Division
| (EUR million) | Q1-Q3 2009 | Q1-Q3 2008 (restated)* |
Percentage change | Q3 2009 | Q3 2008 (restated)* |
Full Year 2008 (restated)* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New orders | 164.4 | 397.3 | (58.6) | 65.6 | 143.2 | 618.2 |
| Work done | 492.0 | 547.3 | (10.1) | 132.3 | 252.9 | 791.4 |
| Order backlog | 426.5 | 870.9 | (51.0) | 426.5 | 870.9 | 744.1 |
| Divisional sales | 536.8 | 213.4 | 151.5 | 164.8 | 80.4 | 428.3 |
| External sales | 527.2 | 201.8 | 161.2 | 162.2 | 75.9 | 407.9 |
| Operating earnings (EBITA) | 29.2 | 16.8 | 73.8 | -10.9 | 15.8 | 59.2 |
| Profit before taxes | 10.1 | -2.4 | - | -17.3 | 8.0 | 31.6 |
| Capital expenditure | 9.8 | 17.9 | (45.3) | 1.3 | 4.2 | 11.1 |
| Net assets | 1,058.8 | 923.7 | 14.6 | 1,058.8 | 923.7 | 1,000.7 |
| Employees | 1,036 (End Q3 2009) |
894 (End Q3 2008) |
15.9 | 1,036 (End Q3 2009) |
894 (End Q3 2008) |
874 (2008 average) |
In light of the market situation, the HOCHTIEF Real Estate division continued to pursue its highly selective policy for the acquisition of new projects in the first nine months of 2009. This strategy led to a decline in new orders. As planned, the order backlog therefore remained below EUR 500 million.
After first-time application of IFRIC 15*, divisional sales, external sales and earnings figures were all higher year on year at the end of the first nine months of 2009. Rental income from completed projects more than covers our financing costs.
Net assets increased by almost 15 percent in the reporting period, reflecting progress in the completion of ongoing real estate projects.
HOCHTIEF Projektentwicklung performed well in the office property segment. At Düsseldorf Airport City, for example, it laid the foundation stone for the new Siemens office, which has already been fully let. In Essen, the Rüttenscheider Tor office building comprising a total of 16,500 square meters of gross floor area was sold to Sal. Oppenheim with almost two thirds of the space pre-leased. In Zurich, meanwhile, we sold to ACRON HELVETIA VII Immobilien the Portikon office and business property that was completed to the Minergie-P sustainable building standard. In Vienna, insurance group ERGO leased 10,000 square meters of space at the MARXIMUM office campus. At Quartier 21 in Hamburg, which in future will be home to all the Group’s Hamburg-based companies, HOCHTIEF is leasing a total of 17,000 square meters of gross floor area.
Our success extended to other segments, too. September 2009 saw the opening of the KOMM shopping center in Offenbach, where over 90 percent of the nearly 16,000 square meters of commercial space is occupied. In Aalen, construction work is underway on the mercatura center comprising almost 27,000 square meters of retail, office and residential space; here, just over 50 percent of the commercial space has already been let. The mixed-use Zentraler Omnibusbahnhof (ZOB) central bus station property was opened in Munich, while in Kippenheim, the senior housing branch handed over to cooperation partner BeneVit the third nursing care facility based on the “household community” model. In Klettgau, the topping-out ceremony was held for the next project with the provider of services for the elderly. A total of 235 places have now been completed and the project has been sold to Swiss Life.
After taking on a string of outsourcing projects in previous months, HOCHTIEF Property Management continued to carry out the related integration processes in the third quarter.
In September 2009, HOCHTIEF Projektentwicklung and Redwood Grove International successfully completed the refinancing of the acquisition financing for aurelis Asset GmbH. As planned, aurelis has thus refinanced the loan taken out by the two partners when aurelis was acquired. The non-recourse finance (without recourse to the two shareholders) was agreed with Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG. The terms of the loan of slightly more than EUR 900 million are in line with HOCHTIEF’s financial plans and investment requirements.
In the first nine months of the year, rental income at aurelis amounted to EUR 69.5 million and sales to EUR 81 million. Ongoing major projects, such as the Europaviertel in Frankfurt, are making good progress.
HOCHTIEF Real Estate outlook
Over the medium term, HOCHTIEF will be one of a small number of providers remaining in the project development segment. This will have a positive impact when demand picks up again. Given that the effects of the financial crisis are difficult to predict, the HOCHTIEF Real Estate division still anticipates a healthy profit before taxes, albeit below the prior-year figure.