- Sales revenues and earnings decline in the first half-year
- Construction progress is on schedule for current projects in Berlin, Magdeburg and Erkner
- More than half of the newly-built residential units in the “Maggie” project in Berlin have already been sold
Berlin, 22 September 2023 – The Grounds Real Estate Development AG (The Grounds / ISIN: DE000A2GSVV5) achieved group sales revenues totalling EUR 16.2 million in the first half-year of 2023 (H1 2022: EUR 21.4 million). The main reason for the downturn compared to the same period in the previous year was the wait-and-see attitude of many private residential property buyers, which in turn was due to difficult framework conditions for the real estate industry during the reporting period, especially the increased interest rate level and uncertainty resulting from political discussions about the heating law. Against this background, the major part of the sales revenue achieved was accounted for by construction measures calculated according to the “percentage of completion” method. The sale of newly-built apartments in the Maggie project in Berlin-Lichtenberg contributed a large proportion of this. Here, almost 60% of the available residential units were already sold within the first six months of 2023. Moreover, all apartments except for one unit are currently reserved, so that a complete sale can be expected by the end of the year. The construction measures currently underway for projects in Berlin, Magdeburg and Erkner progressed according to plan.
The EBIT was positive in the first half of 2023 at EUR 0.4 million, although it was thus significantly lower than in the comparable period of the previous year (H1 2022: EUR 2.9 million). The financial result declined compared to the previous year from EUR -1.0 million to the present EUR -2.0 million. The decisive reason for this were higher interest expenses, which are explained by the increase in borrowed capital in connection with the acquisitions of further building ground plots and privatisation properties in the previous financial year. As a consequence, The Grounds experienced a group loss of EUR 1.1 million in the first half of 2023.
Commenting on the business development in the first half-year, Jacopo Mingazzini, Management Board of The Grounds, says: “The general conditions for the entire real estate sector were very difficult in the first half of the year. Higher interest rates made it much more difficult for private buyers to purchase a home. An additional factor was the vexed discussion about the heating law, which unsettled the whole of the real estate industry and led to the postponement of numerous planned transactions. Nonetheless – mainly thanks to the existing project pipeline – The Grounds has been able to hold its ground in this challenging environment, and we expect an improvement in the result for the second half of the year. An essential precondition for this is that the debtor warrant from the logistics property in Hangelsberg already sold in 2020 becomes due for payment in the second half of the year, which both the buyer and we ourselves currently consider to be likely. Taking into account the contribution to earnings resulting from this, we maintain our previous forecast for the full year, which assumes sales revenues of between EUR 40 and 45 million and an EBIT of EUR 4 to 5 million.”
