Swiss Life Buys German Real Estate Firm; Net Profits Rise

Stephen Little

14 August 2014

has acquired German real estate provider Corpus Sireo for €210 million ($231.2 million) as part of its plans to expand its property management business in Europe. The firm also reported an increase in net profit for the first six months of the year.

The new comes after Bloomberg reported earlier this week that Swiss Life was increasing its funds it oversees for outside clients at a faster pace than planned, helped in part by the troubles Switzerland’s banks are currently facing.

According to Bloomberg, chief executive Patrick Frost said that Swiss Life will expand assets under management, including fixed income and real estate, by at least 7 per cent to SFr30 billion ($33 billion) this year, reaching the amount a year ahead of schedule.

“In competition with larger banks and institutions here in Switzerland, it certainly helped that many of them were occupied with other things,” Frost said.

Swiss Life said in a statement that the acquisition of Corpus Sireo would help improve its position in a core strategic area outside of Switzerland and France to Germany.

"Given our more than 150 years of experience in the real estate business and the additional expertise contributed by the 550 employees of Corpus Sireo, we are confident that we will be able to successfully expand this business area further,” said Frost.

Cologne-based Corpus Sireo was founded in 1995 and provides real estate services for third parties through its 11 branch offices in Germany and Luxembourg. The company manages €16 billion in real estate assets and generates revenues of approximately €160 million.

Following the announcement of the deal, Swiss Life shares rose 7.06 per cent to end the day at SFr226.0.

Results

Swiss Life also unveiled its earnings for the first half of the year. The insurer reported an increase in net profit for the first six months of 3 per cent to SFr487 million, compared to the same period last year.

Earnings per share fell to 14.29 francs from 14.72 francs last year. Adjusted for one-offs and currency effects, profit from operations increased 7 per cent in the first half of 2014 to SFr680 million, up from SFr638 million a year ago, while net profit rose 3 per cent to SFr487 million.

The home market of Switzerland made the biggest contribution with a segment result of SFr407 million, down from SFr472 million for the same period a year ago.

Swiss Life France posted an increase in profit of 27 per cent to €97 million, driven by a rise in sales of unit-linked contracts, a good investment result and a higher combined ratio in health and non-life business.

Swiss Life Germany increased its contribution to profits by 2 per cent to €41 million, compared to the same period in the previous year.

The international market unit more than doubled its contribution to profits from SFr8 million to SFr18 million following efficiency gains, while Swiss Life Asset Managers improved its segment result by 4 per cent to SFr74 million as a result of higher fee and commission income.

"The consistent implementation of our group-wide programme 'Swiss Life 2015' is paying off and improving our position in the market," said Frost.

"Higher fee and commission income, profitable growth with a further improvement in the new business margin, and a good investment result are the cornerstones of this pleasing result," he added.