LUXEMBOURG (dpa-AFX) - Commercial real estate specialist Aroundtown expects a renewed decline in operating profit this year, partly due to property sales. However, net profit surged significantly in 2025 thanks to a substantial revaluation of real estate, while net rental income remained at the previous year's level, the MDax-listed company announced unexpectedly on Wednesday. For the first time in four years, the company intends to pay a dividend again. Additionally, Aroundtown announced plans to increase its stake in residential property subsidiary Grand City Properties (GCP) to nearly 90 percent through a share swap.
The company's outlook for the current year was poorly received on the stock market, with the share price recently losing more than three percent. According to analyst Stephanie Dossmann from investment house Jefferies, the real estate company's outlook falls short of expectations. She expressed some doubts about the success of the share swap offer to increase the stake in Grand City Properties (GCP), suggesting GCP shareholders might not be particularly eager. Grand City Properties shares, meanwhile, rose by about 1.3 percent.
This year, the key operating metric for the real estate sector, FFO1, is expected to decline to between 250 and 280 million euros, the commercial real estate specialist further reported. Last year, this operating profit fell mainly due to higher financing costs, dropping nine percent to 288 million euros.
As a result, the operating profit of the MDax-listed company landed at the lower end of the most recently forecast range. The forecast for the current year is also below the expectations of experts surveyed by Bloomberg, who had on average anticipated an increase in operating profit for this year.
Like many competitors, Aroundtown has been struggling for some time with high interest rates following years of a real estate boom, responding in part by selling properties. In 2025, sales worth 575 million euros were signed, the company stated. Properties worth 790 million euros changed hands last year. In return, properties worth 500 million euros were mainly acquired through residential property subsidiary Grand City Properties (GCP).
Aroundtown's net rental income remained at the previous year's level in 2025, at 1.18 billion euros. On a like-for-like basis, rents increased by 3.0 percent. The rental increase was mainly driven by residential properties of subsidiary Grand City Properties and hotel properties, the company noted. Ultimately, thanks to a substantial revaluation of properties, the company was able to more than triple its profit to 1.13 billion euros.
Meanwhile, Aroundtown aims to significantly expand its stake in Grand City Properties (GCP) via a share swap. GCP shareholders can exchange one share in the company for four Aroundtown shares. This offer applies to just over 47 million GCP shares, Aroundtown reported. Should the MDax-listed company be offered this many shares, its stake in Grand City Properties would rise to nearly 90 percent.
Aroundtown also wants to resume paying a dividend. The annual general meeting will be proposed a payout of eight cents per share, which is slightly less than expected. The dividend represents a payout ratio of 30 percent of operating profit. The ratio is set to rise to 50 percent starting next year. Whether Grand City Properties will pay a dividend for 2025 will be announced by the Aroundtown subsidiary before the shareholder meeting in May.
Meanwhile, Grand City Properties was able to increase net rental income by one percent year-on-year to just under 429 million euros last year, the SDax-listed company also reported on Wednesday. Operating profit (FFO1) came in at just under 188 million euros, the same as the previous year.
For the current year, the real estate company is targeting an operating profit of 175 million to 185 million euros. Thanks to a revaluation of the property portfolio, the company achieved a net profit of almost 588 million euros in 2025./mne/zb/mis/stk
