Swiss Prime Site defies the pandemic
Swiss Prime Site's rental income fell slightly in 2020. The operating result of the Solothurn real estate company also declined in the core real estate business. In contrast, overall net profit increased slightly compared to the previous year.
According to a message from Swiss Prime Site , the Solothurn-based real estate company generated total income of CHF 792.9 million in the 2020 financial year. In the previous year, 1.26 billion Swiss francs had been booked. Swiss Prime Site attributes the decline primarily to the sale of its subsidiary Tertianum, which was completed in February 2020.
The profit from the sale was also reflected in a strong increase in the operating result (EBIT). In the year under review, 762.3 million francs were posted here, compared to 628.3 million in the previous year. Net profit increased year-on-year from 608.5 million to 610.4 million francs. Without taking into account revaluations and deferred taxes, the profit increased from 315.7 million to 476.6 million, writes Swiss Prime Site.
In 2020, the core real estate business generated a total of 431.0 million francs in rental income, 1.4 percent less than in 2019. The operating result fell year-on-year from 572.9 million to 555.0 million francs. At the same time, the value of the real estate portfolio increased by 4.7 percent to CHF 12.3 billion. Swiss Prime Site intends to make its real estate portfolio climate-neutral by 2040, explains the real estate company in the press release.
In the same announcement, the company announces a change in the group management. CFO Markus Meier decided to leave Swiss Prime Site for personal reasons, writes the real estate company. Marcel Kucher, who is currently CFO of the Peach Property Group, is to be his successor at the beginning of July. "With his broad wealth of experience in the areas of capital markets and digitization", Kucher will "optimally complement and further strengthen the management team of our group", Board member Barbara Frei-Spreiter is quoted in the announcement.