Another good year for Corio (NL)

Corio again achieved excellent financial results in 2004, even relative to 2003, which was already a very good year.

Financial results
The direct investment result increased with € 20.0 million to € 197.9 million (+11.2%) in 2004. The indirect investment result was in total € 83.1 million (2003: € 123.2). The property portfolio was revalued by a total of € 100.9 million (+2.6% of its value at the end of 2003), including book profits on sales. The net result, the total of the direct and indirect investment result, came out at € 281.0 million (2003: € 301.1 million), a decrease of 6.7%.

A dividend of € 2.39 (2003: € 2.32) per share over the year 2004 will be proposed to the General Meeting of Shareholders.

Portfolio
The value of the property portfolio (including projects under development) was € 3.929,0 million at the end of 2004, virtually the same as at the end of 2003 (before revaluation). Sales were nearly the same as the investments. However, the percentage of retail in the portfolio has risen from 71% at the end of 2003 to 75% at the end of 2004.

Investments totalled € 174.8 million, of which € 135.9 in new projects and € 38.9 million in the existing portfolio. The most important investments in, and funding of, new shopping centres concerned: Il Globo in northern Italy (€ 45.5 million), Marcianise in Naples, Italy (€ 45.8 million), Stadshagen in Zwolle, the Netherlands (€ 28.3 million) and Parkwijk in Utrecht, the Netherlands (€ 14.7 million). In 2004, offices were sold for a total amount of € 110.7 million and retail including residential units for a total of € 44.7 million, realizing a book profit of € 3.9 million compared to the end of 2003.
The most important sales were the office projects Mar de Cristal in Madrid, Spain (book profit € 8.9 million, already in the valuation as at the end of 2003), L'Arcuriale in Lille, France, Centrada I and II in Toulouse, France and the properties Het Kleine Loo in The Hague, the Netherlands (shops and offices) and part of City Passage (particularly offices and residential units) in Nieuwegein, the Netherlands.

The financial occupancy rate at the end of 2004 was 94% (end-2003: 95%) for the whole portfolio; for retail, offices and industrial properties the figures were 97% (97%), 88% (89%) and 97% (95%) respectively.

Important developments for future potential growth in profits were in 2004 the additions to Corio's variable pipeline of the Hoog Catharijne revitalization project (approx. € 250 million), Corio's position regarding the Leidsche Rijn shopping centre (approx. € 150 million), both in the Netherlands and Ris Orangis in France (approx. € 144 million). The total pipeline provides a possible potential growth in the portfolio of € 1.1 billion (corresponding to approx. 28% of the existing portfolio), spread over the period 2005/2015. This includes a figure of € 567 million for financial obligations already entered into.

Outlook
The direct investment result over 2004 of € 197.9 million is based on accounting principles applicable in 2003 and therefore € 6.9 million of administrative expenses (30% of total) have been charged to the indirect investment result over 2004. As of January 2005, this allocation will no longer be applicable and with that the full 100% instead of 70% of the administrative expenses will be deducted from the direct investment result. Therefore, in the future the indirect investment result will be higher and the direct investment result will be lower. Next to this change in accounting principles, which have no effect on the net result, it is not expected that a considerable one-off effect of € 4 million will occur again in 2005. The direct operational investment result over 2004 would have been € 187 million with these two corrections. Corio expects to achieve in 2005 at least a comparable direct investment result as over 2004.

Source: Hugin

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