The total fund assets of the Helvetica Swiss Living Fund grew by 129% in financial year 2021

Details to the financial year 2021

The success story of the fund launched in 2019, which focuses exclusively on residential uses, has continued in 2021. Thanks to strong investor demand, the fund management company was able to carry out two capital increases in the past year. Both the May and November capital increases were significantly oversubscribed and generated proceeds of CHF 37.6 million and CHF 117.5 million respectively. The market value of the portfolio more than doubled within the year from CHF 204.3 million to CHF 500.8 million.

A total of 19 properties were purchased, bringing the portfolio to a total of 41 properties with 1'176 residential units. The fund is mainly invested in growth regions in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, the residential portion with related ancillary uses and parking spaces accounts for 93% of the target rental income. The remaining 7% includes target rental income from commercial, retail and offices. The acquired properties had a positive impact on the occupancy rate which increased from 89.2% to 95.2% at the end of 2021.

Income statement

Due to the substantially expanded portfolio, annual rental income increased to CHF 11.4 million (previous year: CHF 4.6 million). This is a significant increase of almost 150%. By contrast, expenses totaled CHF 5.1 million, an increase of CHF 2.7 million compared to 2020. The full earnings potential of the newly acquired properties will be realized in the current year. In addition to the increase from operations, revaluations of CHF 9.1 million could be booked under the position "unrealized capital gains". After deducting the change in liquidation taxes, total income increased to CHF 19.7 million (previous year: CHF 9.0 million).

Balance sheet

The total fund assets of CHF 516.3 million (previous year: CHF 225.1 million) reflect the acquisitions and the capital increases over the past twelve months. The property portfolio worth CHF 500.8 million is broadly diversified and consists of 41 properties. These are mainly located in German-speaking Switzerland with an emphasis on the main economic areas. After deducting liabilities and liquidity taxes, the net fund assets reach a value of CHF 310.7 million (previous year: CHF 148.5 million). The debt financing ratio is 38.6%.

Distribution and performance

Last year, the net asset value per share rose by 4.62% to CHF 113.31. Adjusted by the distribution, this corresponds to a pleasing return on investment of 7.7%. The trading price of the fund shares rose even more sharply by 8.45% to CHF 115.50. Also adjusted by the distribution, the performance came to 11.59%, 4.27% above the benchmark of SXI Real Estate Funds Broad, which achieved a performance of 7.32% in the same period. Due to the good results, the fund management company decided to increase the distribution from CHF 3.10 to CHF 3.40 per share. The distribution yield is 2.9%. The ex-date for the distribution is April 27, 2022 and the distribution will be paid on April 29, 2022.

Outlook
In January, the legal transfer of ownership of six high-quality residential properties with 170 apartments in Zweidlen and Wattwil, which were notarized in December 2021, took place. The properties have a fair market value of CHF 74 million and will contribute to the 2022 earnings in full. The successful transactions of the past financial year have shown that investor demand and confidence in the fund are high. While the asset management team focuses on value-creating measures and on increasing the occupancy rate, the fund's growth strategy will be advanced. The aim is to further expand the portfolio in the current year with high-quality residential properties to a portfolio size of at least
CHF 800 million. To achieve this and further strengthen diversification, a capital increase is planned in the first half of the year. A listing on the SIX Swiss Exchange is targeted for 2022 / 2023 given good market conditions, with an adequate portfolio size being one of the prerequisites.