The Aevis Victoria Group, which operates in the hotel and hospital sector, has presented its half-year results. What is particularly exciting are the correlations.
Aevis Victoria Group, operating within the luxury hotel and medical sectors, increased its sales by 42.6 percent to 584 million Swiss francs in the first half of the year. On the one hand, this was due to acquisitions. On the other hand, revenues also increased organically by 9.9 percent.
The Group reported a bottom-line profit of 47.2 million Swiss francs on Friday. This was achieved after a mere 14.3 million Swiss francs in the first six months of the previous year.
Successful investment
Reportedly, the jump in profits was mainly due to the sale of their 40 percent stake in Medgate. That contributed a profit of 47.1 million Swiss francs in the first half of the year, as the Group itself announced in a flurry of information – although the parties had actually agreed not to disclose the details of the transaction.
The Group’s management has shown a good hand and has made real money with the investment.
Secret on the balance sheet
The Group has numerous investments. But even when the Group is in a minority position, it often leaves nothing to chance. This is evident, for example, in the Hospital de Moutier (45 percent share), in the radiology department in Neuchâtel (44.1 percent share) or in the Health Center of Moutier (22.9 percent share), because there it dominates the action, as the choice of the full consolidation method makes clear, despite the minority positions.
Furthermore, the luxury hotels are again doing particularly well after the coronavirus pandemic, as interested parties can learn from the segment reporting. The ten 4 and 5-star hotels increased sales from 53.0 to 80.2 million Swiss francs – an increase of over 50 percent.
Price explosion
In the 940 available rooms, 64,221 overnight stays were sold, with the average room rate increasing by around 30 percent to 679 Swiss francs compared to the same period last year.
This shows that things are looking up again in this area, too, and that the company’s strategy is taking effect successfully. And at the end of March the 5-star Hotel L’Oscar was even acquired in London with a property valuation of 80.7 million Swiss francs.
For the year as a whole, Aevis also expects their current investment portfolio to “generate significant dividends and capital gains at the holding level”.
Problem child launched
This is urgently needed, because a look at the individual financial statements of the holding company reveals that this is precisely what was lacking in the first half of the year:
Dividend income fell from 5.1 million Swiss francs to zero. And the holding company’s other operating income plummeted by over 80 percent to 33.1 million Swiss francs. Logically, profits on a statutory basis also fell by 92 percent to around 17 million Swiss francs.
But with the operational improvements, money should soon be flowing back to the holding company.
16.09.2022/kut./ena.