BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The financial services provider Hypoport is merging parts of its divisions following the slump in its real estate financing business. The brokerage, financing and valuation of private residential real estate will be bundled in the new "Real Estate & Mortgage Platforms" segment, as the company announced in Berlin on Friday. Everything relating to the financing of consumers and companies will land in the "Financing Platforms" segment. Only the insurance division remains unchanged. Hypoport's shares, which have been battered for some time, rose sharply on Friday.

At midday, the shares were up almost five percent at EUR 177.90, making them one of the strongest stocks in the small-cap index SDax. Sharp price fluctuations are nothing new for Hypoport shareholders.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the share price rose to as much as €618 at the start of 2021. However, from the beginning of 2022 in particular, the share price fell sharply as the European Central Bank raised interest rates. As a result, Hypoport's real estate lending business also collapsed. The share price remained turbulent in 2023, falling from 198 euros in July to 98.45 euros by the end of October.

This was when CEO Ronald Slabke lowered his revenue forecast for the current year. The reason for this was once again the weak performance of the real estate platform business and the sluggish recovery in private real estate financing.

The Management Board is now also restructuring these areas - the number of Group segments is shrinking from four to three. As part of the reorganization, the business of several Group subsidiaries such as Europace and Finanzvertrieb Dr. Klein will be split up - depending on whether it relates to real estate or the financing of private or corporate customers. Slabke hopes that the new structure will lead to greater efficiency and less complexity./stw/jsl/jha/