COLONIAL ENREGISTRE UN BENEFICE NET DE 85,4 MILLIONS D'EUROS EN 2007

Le bénéfice opérationnel avant intérêts s'élève à 400,3 millions d'euros, soit une hausse de 175 % par rapport à 2006.


A la clôture de l'exercice, le chiffre d'affaires total du Groupe Colonial s'élève à 840,3 millions d'euros, soit une hausse de 264 % par rapport à l'année dernière.

Madrid, le 29 février 2008. Les résultats de l'exercice 2007 de Inmobiliaria Colonial reflètent un bénéfice net attribuable de 85,4 millions d'euros, un chiffre cinq fois supérieur aux 17,2 millions d'euros de l'exercice 2006 au cours duquel seuls les résultats du dernier trimestre de la société Colonial récemment acquise étaient inclus.

Dans ces comptes de 2007 sont inclus ceux de Riofisa depuis le 31 juillet, suite au succès de l'OPA lancée par Colonial sur 100 % de son capital.

Le chiffre d'affaires total du Groupe Colonial s'élève à 840,3 millions d'euros, soit une hausse de 264 % par rapport à l'année dernière. De ces chiffres, 313,8 millions d'euros correspondent à l'activité de la location et les 526,5 millions d'euros restants correspondent aux activités de promotion résidentielle et de vente de terrains. De plus, la Société a généré 557,1 millions d'euros grâce à la cession d'actifs d'investissement.

In line with year-end independent appraisals by CB Richard Ellis, Savills, Jones Lang Lasalle and Atis Real, investment property revaluations generated a E553.2 M gain. This appreciation, seen both in France (E337.0 M) and Spain (E216.2 M), was thanks to the quality of assets and favourable developments in the markets where Colonial conducts business. The increase in the like-for-like value of investment assets in operation was 10.1%.

The Group booked E419 M in depreciation, amortisation and provisions. Of this, E269 M relates to an accounting adjustment for the goodwill generated in Colonial's acquisition of Riofisa and the rest, basically, to provisions for residential development and land appraisals.

Colonial's earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) totalled E400.3 M, after 175% year-on-year growth.

The accounts for 2007 were prepared using the going concern principle for both its shareholdings and the Company's current business lines. A possible change in the Company's shareholder structure could result in the discontinuation or sale of one of the abovementioned business lines, in which case there would be adjustments to the policies applied in accounting for the assets associated with these lines, as well as changes to related goodwill.

Colonial's shareholding in FCC is accounted for based on purchase cost and applying the equity method. Under this policy, the FCC shareholding contributed E111.2 M to annual results, that is, 15% of the company's profits for 2007.

Rental business

Rental income equalled E313.8 M. Some 54% (E170.4 M) of revenue from rental assets was generated in France from SFL's contribution and the remainder (E143.4 M) from Spain. The portfolio of rental buildings in operation at end-2007 covered 1.3 M m2.

Occupancy of Group-owned offices is at a high of 96.7%, thanks to the quality of Inmobiliaria Colonial's assets, which attract strong demand from tenants seeking prime offices. Given the favourable momentum in the markets where the Company is present and above all its locations in the best districts of Paris, Barcelona and Madrid, the occupancy rate is still at historically very high levels.

With the Riofisa acquisition, the Colonial Group has added a set of high-quality retail centres to its rental portfolio, which also boast excellent occupancy rates, of 92.5%.

Furthermore, the Riofisa acquisition has enabled a significant expansion and diversification in the Group's project portfolio. In this respect, Colonial has a building project portfolio that includes eight office buildings, 23 retail centres and 17 business and industrial parks, covering more than 2.5 M m2 surface area and representing a total of E4,637 M investment for works implementation. Of this, 28% has been carried out and the remaining 72% is to be implemented in the next five years.

Revenues from rental asset disposals equalled E557.1 M. Thanks to the quality of the assets, the sale prices obtained were 12.3% in excess of the valuations in December 2006. This sales volume corresponds to the asset turnover envisaged in the Company's strategic plan.

Development business

Revenues from sales of residential developments and land in 2007 equalled E526.5 M, compared with E154.6 M the year earlier.

Sales of housing and business premises in the year equalled E86.5 M, less than the E163.3 M that the Company recorded in 2006. This decline stems mainly from the smaller Group inventory available for sale, as well as the significant slowdown in demand seen since 2006, which increased in the second half of 2007.

At end-2007 the Colonial Group had developments in progress totalling 1,299 housing units, of which 831 (64% of the total) have already been pre-sold for a total of E256 M, allowing invoicing for the next 18 months to be practically guaranteed.

The land bank of the new Company at end-2007 included some 2.7 M m2. Around 48% of this is located in Andalusia, with the remaining 52% distributed between Madrid and the eastern part of the Iberian peninsula (Catalonia/Castellón/Palma). The Group shall continue its strategy of gradually reducing its residential land bank to focus on the property management business.

Asset portfolio value

Colonial is currently one of Europe's leading property management companies, with real-estate assets appraised at E11.630 billion. Most of this amount, or 79%, relates to the rental business, which has been valued at E9.160 billion.

Meanwhile, the Riofisa purchase has diversified the Group's rental asset portfolio not only by use, but also by geographical area. Thus the office portfolio's share declined to 70% (from end-2006's proportion of 89%) while that of retail centres expanded to 19%. Furthermore, the portfolio of projects being implemented expanded to 28% of total rental assets. As well as its traditional presence in Paris, Madrid and Barcelona, the Group has now added activities in the other major Spanish cities, as well as Bulgaria and Romania, two of Europe's key emerging economies.

The net asset value (NAV) per share at year-end equalled E2.35 per share, having decreased by E0.24 or 9% since end-2006. This decline is focused mainly on the loss of value experienced in the FCC shareholding, which had a negative impact of E0.37 per share.

Debt

The Group's net debt on 31 December 2007 totalled E8.749 billlion after taking into account receivables for divestments made on 31 December 2007, enabling Group gearing (Loan-to-Value) of 67.2%, in line with the provisions of Colonial's syndicated financing agreement.

The average life of the debt agreed is 3.8 years.

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