YOUNIQ raises FY 2010 earnings

YOUNIQ AG, one of the leading providers of quality premium student accommodation in Germany, has today published its 2010 business results. Total revenues were up by 2.7% to around EUR 44.2 million. At the same time, consolidated net income for the year rose significantly from around EUR 1.6 million to around EUR 5.0 million.

With around EUR 30.7 million, the "Student Housing" core business contributed the largest portion to YOUNIQ's total revenues. This resulted both from the successful construction progress on new student accommodation in Karlsruhe, Munich, Erlangen, and Leipzig and from the purchase of additional land, such as in Munich and Frankfurt am Main (Riedberg). In line with the company's plans, total revenues fell in the "Project Development" and "Renting and Trading Real Estate" segments, which are no longer a strategic focus.

After deducting operating costs - comprising predominantly of property related operating expenses and construction costs, as well as expenses for personnel, marketing and sales - the company generated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of around EUR 9.5 million. This represents growth of 14.6% compared with the previous year (around EUR 8.3 million). After depreciation and amortisation, YOUNIQ AG reported EBIT of around EUR 8.7 million (previous year: around EUR 8.1 million). Consolidated net income underwent a marked increase, tripling from around EUR 1.6 million to approximately EUR 5.0 million. It included positive one-off tax effects of around EUR 3.2 million. This corresponds to earnings per share of EUR 0.70 (previous year: EUR 0.21), given a total of 7,050,000 shares outstanding.

Rainer Nonnengässer, CEO of YOUNIQ AG, was very satisfied with the 2010 business year: "Our new projects for student accommodation are developing in line with our plans. Our concept - fully furnished student apartments with high-quality design including TV and Internet connection - is enjoying rapidly growing demand. So far, all our projects have been let within a short period following completion." CFO Dr. Marcel Crommen also looks to the future with optimism: "Our pipeline includes numerous new projects for student housing. For this reason, we are reviewing appropriate financing solutions in order to realise these projects successfully, too. In this way, we aim to further strengthen our market leading position for high-quality student accommodation."