Spain's Merlin Properties' quarterly profit rises as strong occupancy holds

MERLIN Properties SOCIMI

14/05/2026 07:13

May 14 (Reuters) - Spanish real estate group Merlin Properties MRL.MC said on Wednesday its core profit rose 11.4% year-on-year in the first quarter, helped by very high occupancy rates across its businesses.

The company reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of 113.6 million euros ($133.1 million) for the quarter, up from 102 million euros a year ago.

Merlin's traditional office rentals accounted for the bulk of its revenue, followed by shopping centres and logistics businesses

"On the operational side, the traditional businesses continue to tick all the boxes and data centre developments are progressing soundly," J.P. Morgan said in a note

Data centres made up only about 9% of gross rents in the quarter, but Merlin expects them to account for almost half of its revenue by 2030

Occupancy fell 0.6 percentage points from end-2025 results to 95.0%, but remains very high and stable, Merlin said

It expects a substantial revaluation of its data centres in the first half of 2026

($1 = 0.8536 euros)

(Reporting by Javi West Larrañaga in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)

((javier.west@thomsonreuters.com; +34 918 35 61 12))