Press

27/07/2023

Excellent first half for MERLIN Properties, with solid operating fundamentals

  • Gross rents: € 237.8 million (+6.9% YoY)
  • EBITDA: € 181.7 million (+9.6% YoY)
  • Operating profit (FFO): € 147.4 million (+16.7% YoY PF)
  • Net asset value per share: € 15.36 (-2.0% vs. FY22)
  • Net earnings after valuation adjustments: -€47.5 million

 

  • Operating profit (FFO) exceeds €147 million (€31 cents per share). We revise upward our FFO estimate for 2023 from €0.58 to €0.60 per share
  • Healthy growth in all key financial and operating metrics such as occupancy (94.9% +12 bps vs. 3M23), like-for-like rents (+7.7% vs. 6M22) and FFO (+16.7% vs. 6M22 PF excluding Tree)
  • The company continues to absorb the drop in asset valuations stemming from the new interest rate scenario (-1.4% LfL vs 2022), with a +28 bps six-month cap rate expansion adding to the +44 bps in 2022, for a total of +72 bps year to date
  • Net asset value according to EPRA recommendations (EPRA NTA) stands at €15.36 per share, after deducting €24 cents of dividend paid in the second quarter

 

Madrid, 27th July – MERLIN Properties has reported 6M23 results, with total revenues of €243.4 million (including gross rents of €237.8 million), EBITDA of €181.7 million, FFO of €147.4 million (€31 cents per share) and negative net earnings of €47.5 million due to the valuation adjustment of its assets.

Gross asset value (GAV) of the portfolio amounts to €11,301 million, with a slight decrease on a like-for-like basis (-1.4%). Net asset value amounted to €7,216 million (€15.36 per share), down 2.0% compared to December 2022.

The loan to value (“LTV”) remains low, at 33.9%, with a liquidity position of €1 billion. Furthermore, 98% of the debt is fixed rate and the average maturity is 5.3 years.

 

 

Offices

  • Business performance

Good performance of the office portfolio, highlighting the significant increase in LfL rents (+7.5%), the release spread (+3.2%) and occupancy, which stood at 92.3% (+192 bps recovery since 6M22).

 

  • Landmark Plan

Works in Plaza Ruiz Picasso are progressing well, with the asset entering the final phase of construction and almost fully pre-let to prime tenants.

 

Logistics

  • Business performance

Good organic growth (+4.3% LfL), with a release spread of +9.3% and very high occupancy (96.4%) at the end of the first half.

 

  • Best Plan II & III

Strong demand for the WIP portfolio, with plans to start developing 160,000 sqm with HoTs already agreed.

 

Shopping Centers

  • Business performance

Good operating performance, with LfL rents of 10.5%, release spread of +10.0%, occupancy at all-time highs of 96.4%, and OCR decreasing and remaining at very low and sustainable levels (11.7%). Continued recovery in footfall and sales with increases of 0.9% and 13.8%, respectively, in 6M23 vs. the same period in 2019.

 

Mega Plan (Data Centers)

Works are entering the final phase and the three assets are expected to be delivered by September 30th. Strong demand in terms of commercialization, having launched equipment orders to increase from 9 MW to 15 MW.

 

Portfolio valuation

The Gross Asset Value (GAV) of MERLIN amounts to €11,301 million as of June 30th, 2023, according to valuations carried out by Savills, CBRE and JLL, which represents a decrease in comparable terms (-1.4%) to December 2022. By asset category, the logistics portfolio stands out (+4.1%) due to revaluation of developments. Offices and shopping centers fall -2.5% and -2.9% respectively. Net asset value amounted to €7,216 million, equivalent to €15.36 EPRA NTA per share.

As part of its non-core asset disposal policy, MERLIN has divested €31.6 million, including two retail assets and an industrial warehouse.

 

 

About MERLIN Properties

MERLIN Properties SOCIMI, S.A. (MC:MRL) is the largest real estate company trading on the Spanish Stock Exchange. Specialized in the acquisition and management of commercial property in the Iberian region, MERLIN Properties mainly invests in offices, shopping centers and logistics facilities, within the Core and Core Plus segments, forming part of the benchmark IBEX-35, Euro STOXX 600, FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate, GPR Global Index, GPR-250 Index, and MSCI Small Caps indices and DJSI.

Please visit www.merlinproperties.com to learn more about the company.

 

For further information please contact:

Nuria Salas, nsalas@tinkle.es, +34 629 56 84 71

Sarah Estébanez, sestebanez@tinkle.es, +34 636 62 80 41