Rodamco Asia NV announced today that its net profit for the first three months of financial year 2003/2004 (1 March 2003 ââ¬" 31 May 2003) was â⬠7.5 million, up 2.7% from the â⬠7.3 million recorded over the same period last year. However, without the negative impact of â⬠1.2 million from currency rates that were lower on average during the first quarter in 2003/2004 than in the same period of the previous year, the Companyââ¬â¢s first quarter net profit would have grown 19%.
In the first quarter, the total performance amounted to minus â⬠22.8 million due largely to currency results (minus â⬠32.9 million) that arose from the euroââ¬â¢s strength against the US dollar and Asian currencies during the period. Net asset value per share decreased by 5.3% from â⬠19.39 at the beginning of the financial year to â⬠18.36 on 31 May 2003. The closing share price on the last trading day of May being 30 May 2003 was â⬠13.90, representing a discount to net asset value per share of 24%.
Ton de Boer, CEO of RA said, ââ¬ÅOur operational performance remains very sound fundamentally, in spite of the strong euro in which our financial results are reported. We made a very positive start to the year. Not only did we acquire an attractive property, being Rodamco Center in Seoul, South Korea, we were able to move into the area of third-party asset management when we divested 14.99% of Rodamco Center to Samsung Life Insurance, which retained us as the asset manager. We hope and believe there will be more of such strategic partnerships for us in the future.ââ¬Â
Source: Rodamco Asia
