Le mie ricette per la real estate communityFor the first time in its history, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of PATRIZIA AG was today held in a virtual format and without the physical presence of its shareholders due to the current circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic. In his speech PATRIZIA’s founder and CEO Wolfgang Egger explained that PATRIZIA is operating in a market environment with growth fundamentals:
“We have so far weathered the crisis well as a strong, reliable partner for our stakeholders. However, we must not narrow our view now, but must look to our opportunities in the new normality after the crisis. We operate in a structural growth market. Worldwide we have an increasingly ageing population and prosperity continues to grow around the world. Pension institutions manage ever larger assets. Insurance companies are looking for long-term stable returns. The amount of capital available worldwide is constantly growing,” said Wolfgang Egger. “The current crisis is not changing this. With interest rates remaining very low and government debt rising to mitigate the effects of the global economic downturn, investors are increasingly looking for investment opportunities to achieve stable long-term returns. This makes our broad range of real estate investment opportunities and our strategic move into real assets even more attractive and relevant to our clients.”
With its “Strategy 2023” based on four pillars – simplification, services, scope and stability – PATRIZIA will continue on its solid and reliable path of growth.
As part of this strategy, PATRIZIA now aims to leverage its expertise beyond the realm of real estate and become the leading partner for global ‘real assets’. The wording of the company’s new vision tagline encapsulates this new ambition: “PATRIZIA: A leading partner for global real assets”.
In addition to organic growth and M&A activity, social responsibility will remain an essential part of PATRIZIA’s DNA. Against this background, the PATRIZIA Children Foundation has created the ‘Corona Fund Education Healthcare’ to help prevent the Covid-19 pandemic from turning into an even more severe educational and social crisis for children in need.
PATRIZIA’s CFO, Karim Bohn, used his speech to underscore that PATRIZIA is and remains a strong and reliable partner for all stakeholders. The company also announced it would pay a dividend of 29 Euro cents per dividend-bearing share, representing a 7.4% increase on last year and the 2nd consecutive dividend increase. At the end of 2019, the company had EUR 607 million cash at hand and is thus well positioned to master the current crisis and emerge even stronger. The forecast range for its 2020 operating income remains unchanged at EUR 100.0 – 140.0 million.