Colonial Earns 64% Less & Neutralises Effect Of Asentia

30 July 2015 – El Economista

The real estate company Colonial has closed the first half of the year with earnings of €202 million, down by 63.8% with respect to the same period last year, when it recorded earnings of €559 million, due to the deconsolidation of Asentia, its bad bank.

In a statement, Colonial said that its recurring net profit for the first half of the year, i.e. the profit generated by the real estate company’s ordinary activities, amounted to €11 million in H1 2015, an increase of 39.2% compared with the first six months of 2014.

Although Colonial’s accounts for H1 2014 included a positive extraordinary item for Asentia amounting to €704 million, the accounts in H1 2015 also included a €348 million revaluation of the company’s assets. Colonial said that the value of its assets has increased by 21% in twelve months.

Colonial’s business model is simple – essentially, it purchases buildings in prime areas of Barcelona, Madrid and Paris, renovates them for rental and then collects the corresponding rental income. Most of the company’s assets are leased as offices.

In terms of revenues, the real estate company, whose main shareholder is Grupo Villar Mir with its 24% stake, earned €111 million during the first six months of 2015, up by 6%.

So far this year, Colonial has invested €165 million in the acquisition of buildings, including three properties in the centre of Madrid and one in the centre of Paris.

To illustrate the strong performance of the business, Colonial highlights that during the first six months of the year, it has signed rental contracts for space covering 107,692 m2, which is equivalent to the entire surface area that it signed contracts last year as a whole.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake