News

Deutsche Wohnen AG / Key word(s): Final Results 29.03.2012 / 06:59 --------------------------------------------------------------------- - Consolidated profit of EUR 50.6 million - Recurring FFO (without disposals) rose by just under 45% to EUR 47.5 million - Increased dividend of EUR 0.23 per share - Successful capital increase allows to continue the growth course in 2012 Frankfurt/Main and Berlin, 29 March 2012. With a consolidated profit of EUR 50.6 million Deutsche Wohnen more than doubled its earnings in the financial year 2011 (previous year: EUR 23.8 million). Recurring Funds from Operations (FFO, without disposals) rose by just under 45% to EUR 47.5 million, with the result that even the upwardly adjusted earnings forecast, given in the course of the year 2011, was surpassed. This successful development of the company is primarily attributable to improved earnings from Residential Property Management, acquisitions, falling interest expenses and a stable cost structure. The Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio was reduced to 55.0% (previous year: 60.6%) as at 31 December 2011. The value of the company - measured as EPRA NAV - amounted to EUR 11.84 per share as at the reporting date. 'In 2011 we reached or even surpassed all our targets. With our acquisition and disposals policy we scaled the business, entered new markets and also enlarged our portfolio and improved its quality,' says Michael Zahn, Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Wohnen AG. Optimising of portfolio structure By making accretive acquisitions Deutsche Wohnen has been able to significantly improve its portfolio over the past months. Since July 2010 around 8,000 residential units in total have been acquired - with a clear focus on German metropolitan areas. As a result, around 93% of our holdings today are located in our core regions, for which a positive development is forecast. 'The properties we acquired in 2010 have been developing much better than planned - this is a complete endorsement of our investment decisions,' explains Lars Wittan, member of the Management Board of Deutsche Wohnen AG. The profitable acquisitions on the one hand and the further improvement of our operating performance on the other have led to an upward valuation of our portfolio by EUR 40.0 million. Strong operating growth Because of the continued improvements in our earnings and cost structure it was possible to increase the Net Operating Income (NOI) by 5.0% to EUR 140.6 million (monthly average: EUR 3.88 per sqm). Thereby, the average in-place rent of the residential units which were in the letting portfolio in our core regions during the last twelve months (like-for-like comparison) increased by 3.8% to EUR 5.67 per sqm (previous year: EUR 5.46 per sqm). The average monthly new-letting rent effective in 2011 in the non-rent-restricted letting portfolio of the core regions was EUR 6.74 per sqm. Due to rising new-letting rents the rent potential has increased from around 18% to just under 20%. This underlines the continuing dynamics of the residential property markets in the metropolitan areas of Deutsche Wohnen. It was possible once again to reduce the vacancy rate in the letting portfolio of the core regions by 25% to 1.5% in a like-for-like comparison. Deutsche Wohnen ensures the long-term value of its portfolio by making comprehensive investments in its properties. In the financial year 2011 expenditure on maintenance and modernisation work was increased to around EUR 18 per sqm (previous year: EUR 16 per sqm). In the Disposals segment Deutsche Wohnen sold a total of 3,299 units with a transaction volume of EUR 150.6 million (previous year: EUR 171.7 million). In the area of privatisations it was possible - with 1,053 units sold (previous year: 660 units) and a gross margin of 34.9% - to clearly surpass the targets for the year. In the context of institutional sales the focus was on streamlining the portfolio in scattered sites of structurally weak regions. Here, over 1,600 apartments were successfully sold and the adjustment portfolio was reduced by around 44%. The segment Nursing and Assisted Living achieved earnings (before taxes, interest and amortisation) of EUR 9.2 million (previous year: EUR 8.9 million). Further improvement in position on capital market In 2011 the Deutsche Wohnen share performed much better than its comparable indices and was able to conclude a generally difficult year on the stock markets successfully. In November 2011, despite an extremely tense capital market environment, the company carried out a successful capital increase with net proceeds of just under EUR 180 million. Helmut Ullrich, Chief Financial Officer of Deutsche Wohnen AG: 'Especially the high take-up quota of 96% in such a difficult market environment demonstrates the high level of trust the shareholders place in our company and our business strategy. Overall, our position on the capital market today is much stronger: Deutsche Wohnen has a market capitalisation of more than EUR 1 billion and the liquidity of our share has increased.' The Management and Supervisory Boards will be proposing at the Annual General Meeting the payment of a dividend of EUR 0.23 per share for the financial year 2011. Forecast Deutsche Wohnen will pursue its growth strategy consistently in the coming months. 'With the funds from our capital increase we want to further expand our portfolio in 2012,' says Zahn. Thereby, on the basis of the current portfolio - without further acquisitions - the company is aiming to achieve an FFO (without disposals) of EUR 55 million. 'We are confident that our future acquisitions will have additional positive effects on the FFO,' explains the Chief Executive Officer. Deutsche Wohnen Deutsche Wohnen is one of the largest publicly listed residential property companies in Germany with a business focus on managing and developing its residential property portfolio. The portfolio comprises 51,103 units in total, of which 50,626 are residential units and 477 are commercial properties. The Company has 102.3 million shares listed in the Deutsche Börse's MDAX and is also included in the leading indices EPRA/NAREIT and GPR 250. Contact: +49 (0)30 / 89786 - 551 End of Corporate News --------------------------------------------------------------------- 29.03.2012 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. DGAP's Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de --------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Company: Deutsche Wohnen AG Pfaffenwiese 300 65929 Frankfurt Germany Phone: +49 (0)30 89786-0 Fax: +49 (0)30 89786-507 E-mail: ir@deutsche-wohnen.com Internet: http://www.deutsche-wohnen.com ISIN: DE000A0HN5C6, DE0006283302 WKN: A0HN5C, 628330 Indices: MDAX Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München, Stuttgart End of News DGAP News-Service --------------------------------------------------------------------- 162885 29.03.2012