EQS-News: Financial year 2024: 'Deutsche EuroShop is on a very good path.'

Financial year 2024: "Deutsche EuroShop is on a very good path."

• Results above full-year forecast
• Higher visitor frequency, retail turnover and occupancy rate
• Improved valuation result
• Dividend proposal: € 1.00 per share
• Green Finance Framework published
• Mandate of board member Hans-Peter Kneip extended

Hamburg, 28 March 2025 - The shopping center investor Deutsche EuroShop AG, Hamburg, today presented its audited results for the 2024 financial year. The financial report is now available for download at www.deutsche-euroshop.com/ir

Results above full-year forecast

The 2024 financial year was a positive one 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 turnover 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. Deutsche EuroShop invested extensively in modernising and enhancing the attractiveness of several centers in the 2024 financial year. The opening of new shops 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 10 April 2025.

Previous year characterised by positive one-off effects

Deutsche EuroShop recorded a slight decline in revenue to € 271.4 million (-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, 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

Hans-Peter Kneip comments on these results as follows: "The fact that some of the earnings figures were lower than in the previous year does not mean that the company performed worse in 2024. Rather, 2023 was a year in which the figures deviated upwards due to various one-off effects. In particular, the purchase of additional shopping center shares and the recovery of ancillary cost receivables from the coronavirus period that were thought to have been lost had increased the 2023 earnings values extraordinarily."

Improved valuation result

The stabilisation of interest rates at a higher level and the investment market for real estate, which has only recovered slowly so far, had a muted negative impact on the valuation of the Group's property assets in the 2024 reporting year and resulted in a valuation loss of € 14.6 million (2023: € -209.1 million). The key figure "Net tangible assets according to EPRA" (EPRA NTA) fell by 8.1% to € 29.02 per share

At € 123.5 million, consolidated net income was € 161.8 million higher than in the same period of the previous year (€ -38.3 million) 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, fell to € 159.7 million or € 2.10 per share. Funds from operations (FFO) fell by 8.3% to € 157.1 million or € 2.06 per share.

Forecast 2025

For the 2025 financial year, the forecast (excluding special effects) for the four most important key figures is as follows

• Revenue: € 268 to 276 million
• EBIT: € 209 to 217 million
• EBT without valuation result: € 150 to 158 million
• FFO: € 145 to 153 million or € 1.91 to 2.02 per share

"Overall, we are positive about the development of the 2025 financial year and anticipate a stable to slightly positive trend in sales 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.

Dividend proposal

For the 2024 financial year, the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board have decided to propose the distribution of a dividend of € 1.00 per share to the Annual General Meeting on 27 June 2025 in Hamburg.

Green Finance Framework published

In addition to the Financial Report 2024, Deutsche EuroShop today published a Green Finance Framework for the first time. The framework combines the sustainability strategy with the company's financing strategy and emphasises Deutsche EuroShop's contribution to overarching sustainability goals such as the EU's environmental goals and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Hans-Peter Kneip: "We are well advanced with the optimisation of our capital and financing structure. By publishing the Green Finance Framework, we are creating the basis for the possible use of 'green' financing instruments in the future."

Sustainable Fitch has issued a Second-Party Opinion (SPO) on Deutsche EuroShop's Green Finance Framework, which - like the framework - can be found on Deutsche EuroShop's website. The SPO confirms that transactions under the framework are consistent with the ICMA Green Bond Principles and the Green Loan Principles of the Loan Market Association, the Loan Syndications and Trading Association and the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association. The framework has been rated ‘Excellent’ by Sustainable Fitch, which is the highest rating.

Supervisory Board extends Management Board mandate of Hans-Peter Kneip

This week, the Deutsche EuroShop Supervisory Board decided to appoint Hans-Peter Kneip to the Management Board for a further three-year term with effect from 1 October 2025. Hans-Peter Kneip has been the sole member of the Executive Board of the SDAX-listed company since 1 October 2022. Under his leadership, further shares in shopping centers were acquired, forward-looking investments were made in the portfolio, and the capital and financing structure was successfully optimised.

Reiner Strecker, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, is pleased: “Under the leadership of Hans-Peter Kneip, Deutsche EuroShop has developed very well in recent years. The extension of his mandate as CEO ensures that the company's successful development can be consistently continued. We look forward to continuing our work together.”

Financial reporting dates 2025

Deutsche EuroShop will publish its financial reports for the current financial year on the following dates after the close of trading:

• Annual Report 2024: 29 April 2025
• Quarterly statement 1st quarter: 14 May 2025
• Half-year financial report: 14 August 2025
• Quarterly statement 3rd quarter: 13 November

Internet transmission of the conference call

Deutsche EuroShop will hold a conference call for analysts in English on Friday, 28 March 2025 at 10:00 a.m., which will be transmitted as a live webcast at www.deutsche-euroshop.com/ir

Deutsche EuroShop - The Shopping Center Company

Deutsche EuroShop is the only public company in Germany to invest exclusively in shopping centers in prime locations. The company currently has investments 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, among many others.

Key consolidated figures