Austrian real estate investment fund Immofinanz made EUR 47.1 million rental income from its standing properties in Romania, in the fiscal year ended April 30, which is 2.3 percent less than in the previous year.

The fund’s standing investments in Romania were valued at EUR 659 million at the end of April 2014, which is 11 percent of its portfolio, according to the group’s annual report. The value was slightly higher than the one recorded at April 30, 2013, due to operative cost savings.

The fund thus had a gross return of 7.1 percent in Romania, which represents rental income relative to asset value.

Immofinanz has 17 standing properties in Romania with a total rentable space of more than 405,000 sqm. The occupancy rate of these properties at end-April was 82 percent, below the average occupancy rate of all the fund’s properties. Debt related to these properties totaled EUR 260 million.

More than half of the fund’s portfolio in Romania is made of office buildings, most of them located in Bucharest, such as S-Park, Victoria Park, Iride Business Park and Bucharest Corporate Center.

The fund also has 11 development projects in Romania in which it has invested EUR 32.5 million up to date. The projects, with a total 63,000 sqm of leasable space, are for sale. In addition to these, Immofinanz has some EUR 287 million worth of projects on the pipeline in Romania, with no clear calendar as to their completion.

Immofinanz sold properties worth more than EUR 1 billion in the year ended April 30 and posted a net profit of EUR 180 million, 63 percent higher than in the previous year.

Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com