Sponda Plc Press Release 16 May 2013 at 10:10 a.m.
Steady income from real estate investments
Despite the economic stagnation in Europe, funding for real estate investments is working relatively well in Finland. Speakers at the Sponda Capital Markets Day pointed out that there's a demand for properties amongst investors and banks are still willing to finance real estate investments. Finland's high credit rating further enhances the stability of the market outlook.
”Sponda's performance has in spite of the general zero growth in the market been stable,” told Kari Inkinen, the CEO of Sponda Plc, at the Sponda Capital Markets Day in Helsinki on Wednesday 15 May. Occupancy rate at Sponda's investment properties increased slightly from the year before and was 88,2% in the first quarter of 2013. Company keeps the focus on continuous maintenance of the properties, modernisation of the properties flexibly according to the customers' wishes and strengthening the sales functions.
Despite the complex financial crisis in Europe, financial situation in the South Europe does not have a straight impact on Finland. The credit rating of Finland is high and Finland's banking sector is sound, Penna Urrila from the Confederation of Finnish Industries stated. Finnish exports are also increasing to the growing markets in Russia and China.
Reima Rytsölä from Pohjola Bank estimated that the profitability of Nordic banks has steadily improved since 2009, due to loan quality and efficiency of banks. Both the availability and costs of funding are on a moderate level. Following the tightening regulation, both banks and companies are evaluating their funding partners more strictly, the new situation supporting long-term relationships.
Matt Fletcher and Maikel Speelman from European Public Real Estate Association EPRA told that with a need for sustainable cash flow and transparent reporting in the current financial situation,there is an increasing demand for real estate in Europe. They also believe that the amount of listed real estate companies will grow and their role will become stronger in considerations of investment targets.
Sponda Plc
Further information: Pia Arrhenius, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications and IR, tel. +358 40 527 4462
Webcast and presentations of the day are available at www.sponda.fi
Sponda Plc is a property investment company that specialises in commercial properties in the largest cities in Finland and Russia. Sponda’s business concept is to own, lease and develop office, retail and logistics properties in environments that promote the business success of its clients. The fair value of Sponda’s investment properties is approximately EUR 3.3 billion and the leasable area is around 1.5 million m².