publity's final figures show significant increase in profits for 2016 and positive outlook for 2017

- Net profit for the year rises from EUR 12.5 million to EUR 23.1 million in 2016; earnings per share at EUR 3.89

- Equity ratio of 63 percent after 46 percent the previous year

- Further increase in sales and profits expected for 2017

- Guidance for assets under management (AuM) as at end of December 2017 raised to EUR 5.2 billion; AuM of EUR 7 billion expected by the end of 2018

- Dividend target of EUR 2.80 per share confirmed for the 2016 financial year

Leipzig, 28 April 2017 - According to final audited figures, publity AG (Scale, ISIN DE0006972508) increased net profit to EUR 23.1 million in 2016, up from EUR 12.5 million the previous year. This enabled the company to generate earnings per share (EPS) of EUR 3.89 during the reporting period. In accordance with HGB (German Commercial Code) accounting rules, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose to EUR 35.5 million during the 2016 financial year, up from EUR 20.3 million a year earlier. Sales increased to EUR 41.5 million from EUR 23.0 million in 2015. The equity ratio rises to 63 percent, up from 46 percent at the end of December 2015. The dividend target of EUR 2.80 per share was also confirmed for the 2016 financial year.

The sales and profit contribution from one of the notarised property sales have now been consolidated in 2017. This property was previously included in the preliminary 2016 figures published in January 2017. The final 2016 figures confirm the preliminary figures by taking this effect into consideration. As a result of further property sale notarisations already carried out in 2017, publity has already secured significant revenue and profit for the current financial year. Furthermore, the successful co-investment business with international investors is expected to contribute substantially to the ongoing positive business performance. In recent weeks, publity also secured further asset management mandates in addition to existing partnerships with institutional investors, including one in the low billion-euro range with a South American investor. This means that, in addition to profit contributions from property acquisitions, recurring income from the expected increase in assets under management (AuM) will also increase significantly once again. Additional property sales and income from the winding up of an NPL portfolio which has now grown to around EUR 3.2 billion are also expected to have a positive impact in 2017.

Due to the dynamic performance of the business during the first few months of 2017 and extremely positive prospects, publity expects sales and profits to rise further during the current 2017 financial year. publity is also raising its guidance for assets under management (AuM). After the company succeeded in almost doubling AuM to EUR 3 billion during 2016, this figure is expected to rise to EUR 5.2 billion by the end of 2017, up from the previous guidance of EUR 5 billion. AuM is expected to increase to EUR 7 billion by the end of 2018.

The audited annual financial statements for financial year 2016 will be made available for download until 5th May 2017 on the company's website at www.publity.de.

About publity
publity AG is an asset manager specialising in office properties in Germany. The company covers a broad value chain, from purchases through to the development and sale of the properties, and also has a track record of several hundred successful transactions. publity is characterised by its strong network in the real estate sector as well as banks' Work Out departments, and has excellent access to funding. The company executes its transactions quickly using a highly efficient process with tried and trusted partners. In some cases, publity acts as a co-investor in joint venture transactions to a limited extent. publity AG's shares (ISIN DE0006972508) are traded on Deutsche Börse's Scale segment.

Press contact:
Financial press and Investor Relations:
edicto GmbH
Axel Mühlhaus, Peggy Kropmanns
Eschersheimer Landstraße 42, 60322 Frankfurt
Phone: +49 69 905505-52
Email: publity@edicto.de

This release was published on openPR.