Swiss Life says normalising European property markets boost results
Swiss Life beats expectations for H1 fee result
Says German and French property markets are stabilising
Confirms outlook for 2024
Shares touch 23-year high in early trading
Updates shares, recasts with comments on European property markets in paragraphs 1, 4-5, adds property devaluations in paragraph 6, analyst comment paragraph 9
By Andrey Sychev
GDANSK, Sept 3 (Reuters) -Swiss Life SLHN.S, a major owner of real estate in Europe, said the German and French property markets were normalising, which helped the insurer post half-year results above expectations on Tuesday.
The company, which manages real estate assets worth 100 billion Swiss francs ($117 billion) across Europe, has been hit by the widespread slump in property markets.
However, the industry has started to show some signs of respite after the European Central Bank cut its key rates and pointed to further policy easing.
"The expected normalization that we've been talking about for the past 12 months is now happening," CEO Matthias Aellig said during a post-earnings call.
The German market is in a better shape than the French one on a relative basis and with faster transaction growth, Aellig added.
Switzerland's largest landlord said it had to devalue its real estate portfolio by 280 million Swiss francs during the first six months of the year.
Its fee result grew 17% to 395 million francs in the same period, helped by the improving sentiment, beating the 380 million expected by four analysts in an AWP consensus.
The company's shares opened 2% higher, touching a 23-year high, but then lost pace and were flat by 0845 GMT.
UBS said in a research note that some investors might have been disappointed by the absence of a share buyback announcement that the analysts were expecting.
Swiss Life said it still expected its full-year fee result to come at the lower end of its 850-900 million franc range, and said any changes to the guidance would rely on the continued normalisation of the real estate markets in Germany and France.
It also said that company veteran Per Erikson, currently responsible for the real estate business, would become the new head of its asset management unit and chief investment officer from April next year after the previous boss, Stefan Maechler, retires.
($1 = 0.8526 Swiss francs)
Reporting by Andrey Sychev in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi
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