CA Immo cuts its own path in its expansionary growth course with a new, but clear corporate structure and fund products for institutional investors.
Excellent results in 2005
CA Immo AG achieved excellent results in the business year 2005. The property portfolio rose 60 % to about EUR 1.1 bn, which represents the highest increase in value since the companys incorporation in 1988. With a total usable space of about 818,000 sqm, CA Immo ranks among the 'big players' in the domestic market. Of this total, 64% of the property portfolio is located in Austria, the remaining 36% in Central and Eastern Europe, with the bulk being accounted for by Hungary (11%), followed by Romania (9%) and Poland (8%).
Broken down by sectors, 45% of the total usable space is offices, 8% residential properties, and the rest is made up by industrial, retail, hotels and car-parking spaces (garages).
Capital market campaign with clear structures
The fiscal year 2006 is expected to even surpass last years positive performance: CA Immo plans to increase, and thus to almost double, its property portfolio to EUR 2 bn already in the current business year. In the next three years, the 'magical limit' of EUR 5 bn is to be reached.
However, growth as such is not the only priority. CA Immo carefully considers the market situation and cuts its own path with its 'growth campaign 2006'.
CA Immo will accelerate growth in combination with a restructuring of the company:
- The CA Immo share which has been positioned as a safe instrument for riskconscious investors ever since will remain unchanged in its orientation.
- In addition, however, CA Immo wants to address institutional investors. For this purpose, a new fund will be set up under Luxembourg law, in which the existing CEE portfolio worth about EUR 500m will be invested.
- Over the next three years, the overall fund volume is planned to reach about EUR 2 bn.
- CA Immo AG will remain majority owner of this new fund and hold a stake of 51%, whereas the remaining 49% are to be held by institutional investors.
- The fund will be open-ended, but with a clear regulative mechanism a mandatory retention period of ten years. By doing so, CA Immo makes use of the advantages of an open-end fund while offering the safety of a closed-end fund.
Bruno Ettenauer, new member of the Management Board from the beginning of March 2006: The new structure enables all investors to participate in the dynamic growth course of CA Immo but takes into account the strongly differing risk profiles of private and institutional investors.
Germany as new target market
Moreover, CA Immo will carry through a regional re-orientation: In addition to the CEE countries primarily Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary as well as Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia, it will also invest in the German market in future. Unlike its competitors, CA Immo is interested exclusively in whole property packages and will not acquire single properties.
Two further target markets are Russia and Ukraine. This means that in future CA Immo will concentrate: in the west on Austria and Germany, and in the east on Central and Eastern Europe as well as Russia and Ukraine.
Portfolio parity
In the medium term, CA Immo will have a balanced relation between east and west in its portfolio due to the strong growth over the next few years: The 50% share accounted for by Western Europe is to be composed of 30% Austrian and about 20% German properties. The second half of the portfolio divides into a 40% portion attributable to the so-called advanced markets (Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, etc.) as well as a 10% share accounted for by Russia and Ukraine.
EUR 5 billion - within three years
Despite all expansionary plans, we will not lose touch with reality, emphasises Bruno Ettenauer. And Wolfhard Fromwald adds: Just like in the past, we will continue to grow at a carefully measured pace, to a manageable extent and, above all, in a safeguarded way. Similar to the year 2005 when we suc
