Branicks Group AG

For the first 9 months of 2025, Branicks reported FFO of EUR 33.4 million. Net rental income was EUR 96.3 million, income from associated companies was EUR 3.2 million, and real estate management fees were EUR 30.2 million; platform income from rent and management fees totaled EUR 126.5 million. Management said like-for-like rental income rose 0.3% across the portfolio, with 1% growth in the commercial portfolio and 0.1% in institutional business; letting performance increased 18% year over year to 256,500 square meters. For full-year 2025, Branicks kept guidance for gross rental income at EUR 125 million to EUR 135 million, real estate management fees at EUR 45 million to EUR 55 million, and FFO I after minorities and before taxes at EUR 40 million to EUR 55 million. Acquisition guidance remains no acquisitions for on-balance-sheet activities and EUR 100 million to EUR 200 million in EBO, while disposal guidance remains EUR 600 million to EUR 800 million, split between EUR 500 million to EUR 600 million commercial and EUR 100 million to EUR 200 million institutional.

Sonja Wärntges emphasized that the company’s main priorities remain deleveraging, covenant headroom, and liquidity management. She highlighted the planned structural integration of VIB as a way to simplify governance, harmonize decision-making, and capture synergies, while saying the group wants to become a more profitable, ESG-focused, value-generating asset expert. Her tone was confident but cautious, repeatedly noting that the transaction market remains challenging and that some decisions, including the green bond maturity in 2026, are still being worked through.

Wärntges and Dirk Oehme pointed to continued balance-sheet improvement: bond LTV improved from 57.4% at end-June to 56.1%, ICR rose from 2.3 to 2.6, and the average interest rate declined from 2.67% at end-December to 2.37% at end-September. They said 2025 promissory notes were fully repaid, leaving EUR 64 million to roll, and noted EUR 667 million of total financial liabilities had already been reduced in 2024. On costs, management said OpEx was down about 6% year over year and expects a high-single-digit reduction for the full year; they also said Q4 adjustments should be around EUR 1 million plus/minus, mainly adviser costs tied to refinancing and intra-group transactions.

Analysts focused on three main issues: write-downs on sold assets, the rising vacancy rate, and what the VIB integration will mean for structure, cash flows, and KPIs. Management said the EUR 178 million of write-downs were tied mainly to two VIB assets sold in Q3, including a special logistics asset with a difficult future use case, and argued that some assets look different in a sale process than in a DCF valuation. On vacancies, they said the increase was mostly due to the expiration of two big office contracts, some logistics vacancies, and completed sales that changed the denominator; they expect the vacancy rate to improve in 2026 as new leases become effective. On VIB, they said the profit and transfer agreement is a self-driven step to create one clearer group structure, not a bank requirement, with shareholder meetings expected around mid-February and completion targeted for 2026.