Next, we've a bunch of
German property companies with patchy / non-existent English news / reporting.
Demand which is particularly attractive, as it offers
German property companies the opportunity to sell residential units at a much higher retail price level, albeit in a slow & steady fashion.
But sure, if we really did end up with deflation in Europe,
German property companies mightn't be the best investments — just like pretty much all other European equity investments in that scenario..!
German property companies have been slowly but surely working off the leverage acquired pre-2008.
I'd hazard that investors abandoned SRE after getting so burnt on over-leveraged London listed
German property companies (v few of which still exist).
With listed
German property companies mostly rallying across the board, Sirius» performance has been an outlier.
I'm a huge fan of German property as it's significantly undervalued in a global context, it never really participated in the asset / property inflation of the 2000s, I believe there's a secular trend to increase property ownership in Germany and current Bund yield trends are immensely supportive of
German property company financials and valuations.
Not exact matches
Other new purchases included Norma Group, a
German auto parts supplier; Saft Groupe, a French battery manufacturer; Countrywide, a U.K.
property services group; and DSV A / V, a Danish transport
company.
For practical reasons, I'm also ignoring sub-10 million market caps, plus
companies with a relatively minor
German property allocation.
I keep an eye on at least 30
property companies with
German property exposure — including Immofinanz and, for example, Conwert (CWI: AV) because of their large discounts.
As the
German land grab continues, and rising
property share prices attract increased investor & media attention, you'll see more
companies keen to list.
I'm sure they won't be averse to acquisitions, but I'm not sure they plan any immediate buying spree — they've already evolved into primarily a
German residential
property company, and their
German residential segment is significantly larger than KWG itself.
-- Yields: Listed
German residential
property companies enjoy an average portfolio yield of 7.3 %!
Part IV: Brief individual reviews covering the majority of listed
German residential
property companies.
German residential
property investment's still a compelling investment proposition (perhaps more so now, with the 10 yr Bund yield turning negative), but sector large - caps seem like they're priced accordingly, and I'm not convinced I want to chase down a cheaper small / micro-cap
company.
OK, next we'll take a closer look at individual
German residential
property companies.
The
company now aspires to become a regular (
German) commercial
property company, offering a mix of dividends & capital growth — which may be exactly what you're looking for!
Karoo has basically won the war here against the activists (Weiss reported they've basically completed their exit the other day), and SRE's now a pretty regular
German commercial
property company (I'm sure they'll commence a dividend asap) which will be increasingly valued & compared to its peer group.
Yes, see my comment above: «Meanwhile,
German companies remain (understandably) focused on a continued land grab for cheap
property...»
German (residential)
property companies are not a dividend story right now — but I believe their strategy of conserving cash to bulk up their portfolios is definitely the right strategy at this point.
And KWG's one of the cheapest
German residential
property companies out there (trading on a 0.58 P / B), despite the fact it sports lower leverage than its peer group, and has one of the best value - creation records in the industry over the past 6 years.
The alternative, of course, is to sit down & re-survey the listed
German property sector, in the hopes of finding another KWG... i.e. a still relatively undiscovered stock /
company that offers an attractive relative / absolute valuation and / or prospective NAV growth!?
Next, we'll take a closer look at some of the listed
German residential
property companies on offer.
[NB: If you're seeking (greater) exposure to Berlin / E
German property, these are probably the best
companies to focus on: Conwert, Taliesin, GSW, Deutsche Wohnen, Estavis & TAG Immobilien].
[Considering the valuation differential between
German & Austrian
property companies, I still consider this a short - sighted strategy by Conwert].
Meanwhile,
German companies remain (understandably) focused on a continued land grab for cheap
property — but when they eventually re-focus on FFO, tax efficiency & dividends, it may well usher in a fresh revaluation phase.
Property services giant JLL has announced a global co-operation agreement with
German legal and real estate AI
company LEVERTON.
Global law firm Baker McKenzie has struck a worldwide framework agreement to make use of
German legal and
property AI
company Leverton's document analysis software.
In a similar vein, Atlanta - based Jamestown is a real estate investment and management
company that buys U.S.
properties on behalf of large groups of
German investors, according to partner Stephen Zoukis.
Prior to joining Inland Retail, Mr. DiGiovanni was Senior Vice President of Development for BVT, a
German based (Munich) syndication
company which raised equity to promote both new development and acquisitions of existing retail / office
properties.
Moreover, a lot of
German companies have massive
property portfolios, and Arissen expects that they will spin off their buildings to free up cash.