Results exceed full-year forecast
The 2024 financial year was positive for Deutsche EuroShop, with results slightly above the full-year forecast, which had already been raised on the basis of the nine-month figures. “Although the market environment remained challenging in 2024, Deutsche EuroShop is on a very good path. The operating business in our shopping centers developed positively. Footfall rose by 0.6% and our tenants’ retail sales increased by 2.5%,” explains CEO Hans-Peter Kneip. “We are also optimistic about the coming years.”
Occupancy rate increased significantly
“The occupancy rate increased significantly by 2.4 percentage points to 95.4% following the completion of major investment projects and is therefore at a high level,” continued Hans-Peter Kneip. In the 2024 financial year, Deutsche EuroShop invested extensively in modernizing and enhancing the attractiveness of several center locations. The opening of new stores in the A10 Center, the Rhein-Neckar-Zentrum, the Stadt-Galerie Hameln and the City-Galerie Wolfsburg, among others, contributed significantly to the increase in the occupancy rate. In the Main-Taunus-Zentrum, the construction of the new Food Garden is nearing completion and will welcome guests from April 10, 2025.
Deutsche EuroShop recorded a slight decline in revenue to 271.4 million euros (-0.7%, like-for-like). Among other things, this was due to temporary vacancies as a result of investment measures, lower follow-up rents in some cases and positive one-off effects in the previous year. At 216.3 million euros, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were 1.7% higher than in the previous year, while earnings before taxes (EBT) excluding measurement gains/losses fell by 2.5% to 165.2 million euros.
Net income was 161.8 million euros, higher than the same period of the previous year (-38.3 million euros) at 123.5 million euros due to the improved valuation result and earnings per share increased accordingly from €-0.51 to €1.62. EPRA earnings, which exclude the valuation result, decreased to 159.7 million euros or €2.10 per share. Funds from operations (FFO) fell by 8.3% to 157.1 million euros or €2.06 per share.
Outlook for 2025
For the 2025 financial year, the forecast (excluding special effects) for the four most important key figures is as follows: Sales are estimated between 268 and 276 million euros, while EBIT is expected to reach between 209 and 217 million euros. EuroShop projects EBT without valuation result between 150 and 158 million euros, and FFO between 145 and 153 million euros, or 1.91 to 2.02 euro per share.
“Overall, we are positive about the development of the 2025 financial year and expect a stable to slightly positive development of revenue and EBIT. For EBT excluding measurement gains/losses and FFO, we expect a slight decline compared to the 2024 financial year due to a planned lower financial result,” comments Hans-Peter Kneip on the forecast.
Deutsche EuroShop is Germany’s only public limited company that invests exclusively in shopping centers in prime locations. The company currently holds interests in 21 shopping centers in Germany, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The portfolio includes the Main-Taunus-Zentrum near Frankfurt, the Altmarkt-Galerie in Dresden and the Galeria Baltycka in Gdansk.
