Merlin Properties ended the first nine months of this year with a turnover of 381.3 million euros, a recurrent EBITDA of 277.4 million, an operating profit of 201.9 million and an accounting impact of 254.4 million euros.
The net value of the company's assets reached 7,370 million euros (15.59 euros per share), 0.8% higher than the value of the first half of the year, "although no new valuation of the portfolio was carried out", which held in June and December of each year.
Merlin closed the quarter with an LTV of 40.1% and "excellent financial ratios", and liquidity of 1,692 million euros.
Merlin's business recorded an improvement in the evolution of comparable rents (-2.1% until September compared to -2.9% until June), as a result of the increase in occupancy from 29 basis points to 89.4%, which should reach the 90% still by the end of this year.
Merlin's logistics business posted positive like-for-like revenue growth of 0.6% and a launch differential of 3.2%. The company's portfolio is practically all occupied.
With regard to shopping centres, there was a "clear recovery in inflows", despite a decrease of -15.5% compared to September 2019, and also in sales (-9.1% compared to September 2019) , keeping the effort rate at 12.4%. Occupancy is close to pre-pandemic levels at 93.8%.
The company recorded a significant reduction in incentives to tenants compared to the previous quarter, maintaining "occasional non-payment levels, similar to those obtained before Covid-19", totaling 23.7 million euros in bonuses until September.
Regarding its commitment to sustainability, Merlin highlights that it «continues to demonstrate its commitment to sustainability, obtaining 8 new certificates this quarter. The major certification effort will be completed in 2022 as planned. To date, 97% of the company's shopping centres, 89% of its offices and 86% of its logistics warehouses are certified”.
