Patrizia actual property group cautious about present yr

AUGSBURG (dpa-AFX) – Real estate group Patrizia is looking ahead to the current year with mixed feelings after a significant drop in earnings in 2022. For 2023, management can envision both a decline and an increase in operating earnings (Ebitda). Assets under management should continue to rise in the current year, the SDax-listed company announced on Monday when presenting preliminary figures after the close of the stock exchange in Augsburg. Patrizia also expects an increase in ongoing administrative costs. The share turned after a weak start into the plus – last stood a price plus of about half a percent on the price list.

However, the market environment is uncertain, among other things with regard to geopolitical risks and the interest rate level. This makes it difficult to estimate the timing and extent of a recovery in customer activity, he said, and could have an impact on transaction and performance-based fees.

For the current year, Patrizia is targeting earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) of €50 million to €90 million. In 2022, operating profit fell by more than a third to 78.9 million euros. The Group thus exceeded its earnings target, which it had significantly lowered to 60 to 75 million euros in November. Adjusted for costs for the Group’s restructuring, operating profit was just under 89 million euros. The company plans to publish its full-year financial statements for 2022 on March 23.

Solid financials remain a strong support for the real estate group, according to analyst Kai Klose of private bank Berenberg. The short-term economic environment is likely to remain gloomy, but Patrizia is well equipped for a prolonged downturn, he said. According to Klose, the annual operating result published the previous evening was slightly below his estimate. The real estate group’s operating profit was just above the revised target range, wrote analyst Andre Remke of Baader Bank. However, the very wide earnings target range for 2023 confirms the difficult-to-predict business development, he added.

Patrizia had launched a savings program last year to become more profitable. According to earlier information, the program will cost around ten million euros on a one-off basis. Rising interest rates and higher construction costs are increasingly causing problems for real estate groups. As a result, major construction projects were postponed or put on hold several times last year. This is also having an impact on Patrizia.

Transaction fees slumped by more than half to 22.5 million euros in 2022 and performance-based fees by around a quarter to 61.2 million euros. Net revenues from sales shrank by more than 60 percent to 4.3 million euros. By contrast, the Augsburg-based company was able to increase recurring management fees by a good 15 percent to 241 million euros.

In 2022, assets under management increased by a good fifth to 59 billion euros, thanks in part to the recent acquisitions of Whitehelm Capital and Advantage Investment Partners. In the current year, assets under management are expected to grow to 60 to 65 billion euros. The dividend is to rise by one cent 0.33 euros per share./mne/lew/ngu/zb