The first quarter of 2012 corresponds to the expectations for Leasinvest Real Estate. Taking into account the challenging market situation, the further commercialization of the lettings evolves favourably.
Different investment files have been further analysed over the first quarter and could concretize in the course of the second half-year.
The rental income of Leasinvest Real Estate has slightly decreased over the first quarter of 2012 by 5.7% compared to the rental income over the first quarter of the past financial year, mainly as a consequence of the divestment in 2011 of the office building in Zwijndrecht and a lower occupancy rate (92.26%) in comparison with the same period of the past year (97.60%).
The occupancy rate[1] at the end of March 2012 however has remained nearly constant compared to the end of 2011 (92.57%).
The average duration of the rental contracts amounts to 3.94 years compared to 4.03 years end-2011.
The gross rental yields have also remained nearly stable and amounted to 7.22% (end-2011: 7.23%) based on the fair value and 7.03% (end-2011:7.05%) based on the investment value.
The fair value[2] of the direct real estate portfolio amounts to 505.5 million euro at the end of March 2012 compared to 504.4 million euro at the end of December 2011. The slight increase confirms the relatively favourable evolution of the lettings.
The net current result[3] of the first quarter stands at 4 million euro (or 1 euro per share[4]), in comparison with a net current result of 4.6 million euro (or 1.2 euro per share) for the comparable period of last year.
The financial results over the first quarter have been influenced by the negative changes in fair value of the hedges (750 thousand euro) compared to positive changes over the first quarter of the past year (+2.1 million euro).
At the end of the first quarter of the financial year 2012 shareholders' equity, group share (based on the fair value of the investment properties) amounts to 263.9 million euro (31/12/11: 261.8 million euro).
At the end of March 2012 the net asset value per share reaches 65.99 euro (31/12/11: 65.51 euro). End-2012 the closing price of the Leasinvest Real Estate share amounted to 67.64 euro or 2.5% higher than the net asset value.
The debt ratio has slightly decreased and stands at 46.71% (47.29% end-2011).
Leasinvest Real Estate has sold its total participation of 16,583 treasury shares at an average share price of 67.29 euro per share, of which 3,500 shares before 31/03/12 and the remaining 13,083 shares after 31/03/12. The total number of shares in circulation equals the number of issued shares, i.e. 4,012,832.
The board of directors of the statutory manager has proposed to the ordinary general meeting of shareholders of Leasinvest Real Estate, which will be held on 21 May 2012, to distribute a dividend over the 2011 financial year of 4.15 euro gross and net, free of withholding tax, of 3.2785 euro (based on a withholding tax of 21%).
The manager repeats that except for unforeseen circumstances and unexpected capital losses on its current real estate portfolio and hedges, the company expects to realize in 2012 a better net result and a comparable net current result than in 2011. The board of directors expects to be able to maintain the 2012 dividend in line with that of 2011.
11 May 2012,
The manager
For more information, contact:
Leasinvest Real Estate
Jean-Louis Appelmans
Investor Relations
T: +32 3 238 98 77
E: jeanlouis.appelmans@leasinvest.be
W www.leasinvest.be
Leasinvest Real Estate SCA
Real estate investment trust Leasinvest Real Estate SCA invests in high-quality and well-situated office, logistics and retail buildings, in Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
The real estate investment trust is listed on Euronext Brussels and has a market capitalization of 267 million euro (value on 10/05/2012).
[1] The occupancy rate is calculated based on the estimated rental value. All buildings of the Leasinvest Real Estate portfolio are taken into account, including those for which a rental guarantee was received, excluding the development projects.
[2] Fair value: the investment value as defined by an independent real estate expert and of which the transfer rights have been deducted. The fair value is the accounting value under IFRS.
[3] The net current result is calculated as the net result excluding the portfolio result on the one hand and the changes in the fair value of the ineffective hedges on the other hand.
[4] The data per share are calculated based on the number of shares participating in the result of the period (3,999,794), i.e. the number of issued shares (4,012,832) minus the number of treasury shares on a consolidated basis (13.038) (for: 31/03/10, 31/12/10, 31/03/11 and 31/12/12: 3,996,294).