The sales relate to the retail center in Eeklo and, a small office building located in Brussels which, given its size, is not strategic. During the entire year Banimmo has transferred four assets and has realized over 120 million additional cash which will allow it to start the year 2010 in optimal conditions.
In Belgium as in France, different acquisition files are being examined. The aggregate of the sales have generated a capital gain i.e. higher values than the most recent values assessed by the statutory expert, which demonstrates the conservative character of these assessments. It is to be reminded that as Banimmo is not a REIT ("Sicafi/ Vastgoedgbevak"), this expert is appointed further to the request of the pool of banks financing Banimmo. Therefore the expert's report to be submitted to the banks has to be most carefully-worded.
It is to be noted that since the initial public offering of Banimmo, all transfers occurred at higher values than those assessed by the experts, regardless the real estate cycle at the of time of the sale. Further to these operations, Banimmo closes the year with an extremely solid balance sheet, which is confirmed by a pro-forma ratio "financial debt on total balance sheet" of 45%, this ratio is amongst the lowest of all real estate companies listed on Euronext Brussels.
In general and despite an extremely difficult context, Banimmo closes the year 2009 in excellent conditions.
Source: Banimmo
