Real Estate segment

According to Grossmann & Berger’s latest market report, the pandemic-related catch-up effects on Hamburg’s office rental market weakened noticeably at the end of the first half-year. The amount of office space let fell by around 25 % from 305,000 m² in the high-revenue period of the previous year to 230,000 m² as of June this year. At the end of the second quarter, the vacancy rate of 4.0 % was unchanged from the beginning of the year due to the higher amount of space on offer.

By contrast, HHLA’s properties in the Speicherstadt historical warehouse district and the fish market area reported a positive trend in the first half of the current financial year with almost full occupancy in both areas.

Revenue rose significantly by 8.6 % in the reporting period to € 23.4 million (previous year: € 21.5 million). In addition to increased income from revenue-based rent agreements, this growth was largely due to rising rental income from newly developed properties in the Speicherstadt historical warehouse district. A planned temporary vacancy for facade renovation to increase the energy efficiency of a property, as well as increased maintenance expenses and depreciation following completed project development, were more than offset by the growth in revenue.

As a result, the cumulative operating result (EBIT) increased slightly by 2.2 % to € 9.7 million in the reporting period (previous year: € 9.4 million).