German landlord LEG swings to $1.7 bln loss amid property crisis (updated)

LEG Immobilien SE

11/03/2024 10:31

(Updates with writedowns, outlook and shares in paragraphs 2,
5; context in paragraph 3, dividend in paragraph 7)
       DUESSELDORF, March 11 (Reuters) - LEG Immobilien
 LEGn.DE , one of Germany's largest listed landlords, swung to a
$1.71 billion loss in 2023 as Europe's largest economy goes
through its worst real-estate crisis in decades, figures on
Monday showed.
    Writedowns on its property value were the main reason for
the loss, but the company posted a dividend and was optimistic
about the future, lifting its share price by 2.3%.
        A sudden turnaound in interest rates by central banks to
combat inflation put pressure on the property industry after
years of boom, prompting landlords like LEG to make writedowns
and sell flats.
  
        Its loss for the year was 1.565 billion euros ($1.71
billion), compared with net profit of 237.4 million in 2022. 
        It devalued its portfolio by 4.9% in the second half of
2023, after doing so by 7.4% in the first half, and said
valuations would "gradually stabilise" over 2024.
  
    "For LEG, the peak of the real estate crisis is behind us,"
Chief Executive Officer Lars von Lackum said in a statement.
    The company said it would pay a dividend of 2.45 euros per
share for 2023 after suspending it for the 2022 financial year. 

($1 = 0.9143 euros)

 (Reporting by Matthias Inverardi; writing by Tom Sims; Editing
by Rachel More)
 ((Tom.Sims@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 220 133 645;))