BOCHUM (dpa-AFX) - Germany's largest residential real estate group Vonovia slipped significantly deeper into the red last year. Due to a further devaluation of the real estate portfolio, the bottom line was a loss of just under 6.8 billion euros, as the DAX-listed company announced on Thursday after the close of trading in Bochum. In the previous year, Vonovia had posted a loss of around 669 million euros. The value of the rental portfolio was around 83.9 billion euros at the end of December 2023. A year earlier, Vonovia had valued its properties at 94.7 billion euros.

The Group's day-to-day business also performed worse in 2023. The operating profit (FFO) fell by nine percent to EUR 1.8 billion. While business with project development and additional services in particular was weaker, there was a significant upturn in letting due to the continued high demand for residential space in metropolitan areas.

Rents rose by an average of 3.8% across the Group at the end of December. In Germany, the average rent at Vonovia was EUR 7.63 per square meter at the end of December. Shareholders are set to benefit from this: The management intends to propose a dividend of 90 cents per share at the Annual General Meeting. A year earlier, the Group had distributed 85 cents.

Vonovia expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (adjusted EBITDA) of EUR 2.55 billion to EUR 2.65 billion for the current year. In the previous year, earnings amounted to 2.58 billion euros. The adjusted pre-tax profit is expected to be between 1.7 billion and 1.8 billion euros. Last year, it amounted to 1.87 billion euros.

The news was well received on the financial markets in the evening: In after-hours trading on the Tradegate platform, the Vonovia share gained a good two percent in value compared to the Xetra closing price./mne/stw