Pursuant to § 93 (1) of the Austrian Stock Exchange Act, IMMOFINANZ AG hereby gives notice that at the end of January 2012 the number of voting rights amounts to a total of 1,140,479,102 voting rights. The Company’s share capital is EUR 1,184,026,409.35 and is divided into 1,140,479,102 ordinary no-par value shares which currently represent a portion of the share capital of approximately EUR 1.04 each.

These changes are due to the exercise of conversion rights by holders of convertibl

The previous standpoint of investors in these legal proceedings was that they had purchased a share in an investment fund but received a bond in exchange, meaning the wrong product was delivered (“aliud“). In its ruling on this case, the Supreme Court clearly rejected this argumentation.

“This Supreme Court ruling is a great success for us and clearly confirms the positive assessment of Aviso Zeta AG. The settlement of all Dragon FX cases was proposed by a number of investor representatives shortly after the ruling was announced. We are therefore very optimistic that the Dragon FX Garant issue will soon be finally settled in favour of Aviso Zeta“, commented Stefan Frömmel, member of the Executive Board of Aviso Zeta AG, on this satisfactory ruling for the company.

The Supreme Court ruling stated that the information brochure published by Aviso Zeta AG formed the basis for the purchase. In the opinion of the Supreme Court, there was “no room“ for argumentation of the kind stated by the investors. The brochure indicated that this product is a certificate with a capital guarantee. There was, therefore, agreement on the object of purchase, which cannot be changed by any possible false designations. The decisive point is that the purchase form for the Dragon FX Garant was completed. The Supreme Court substantiated and confirmed its ruling on this issue (9 Ob 17/11g), in which the aliud-objection had been rejected.

In addition, the Supreme Court reiterated that Aviso Zeta AG was not required to refer to any general credit risk associated with Lehman Brothers in the cited information brochure.

A total of 500 cases against Aviso Zeta AG with a total value in dispute of EUR 7 million are currently pending at the Vienna Commercial Court and awaiting the outcome of this test case. Based on this Supreme Court ruling, it is highly probable that the other pending Dragon FX Garant proceedings will also be decided in favour of Aviso Zeta AG, since most of the plaintiffs have already withdrawn their lawsuits and reimbursed Aviso Zeta AG for the costs incurred.

“We are interested in an out-of-court end to these proceedings, in order to avoid further unnecessary work for the courts and to save costs for all parties involved. We are convinced the involved attorneys will share this opinion“, added Frömmel.

On Aviso Zeta AG

Aviso Zeta AG, formerly Constantia Privatbank AG, is the previous external management company of Immofinanz AG and, since 2010, a wholly owned subsidiary of IMMOFINANZ Group.

On IMMOFINANZ Group

IMMOFINANZ Group is one of the five largest listed property companies in Europe and is included in the leading ATX index of the Vienna Stock Exchange. Since its founding in 1990, the company has compiled a high-quality property portfolio that now comprises more than 1,600 standing investment properties with a carrying amount of approx. EUR 8.7 billion. The core business of the IMMOFINANZ Group covers the acquisition and the active management of investment properties, the realisation of development projects and the sale of objects. IMMOFINANZ Group concentrates its activities in the retail, office, logistics and residential segments of eight regional core markets: Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Russia. Further information under: www.immofinanz.com. 

As of 10 January 2012 and after redemption of the put CB 2014 bond certificates, the liabilities arising from convertible bonds are as follows: 

*) Put option for convertible bondholders

**) Held to maturity (coupon 1.25%)

***) To be settled as of 19 January 2012

On IMMOFINANZ Group

IMMOFINANZ Group is one of the five largest listed property companies in Europe and is included in the leading ATX index of the Vienna Stock Exchange. Since its founding in 1990, the company has compiled a high-quality property portfolio that now comprises more than 1,600 standing investment properties with a carrying amount of approx. EUR 8.7 billion. The core business of the IMMOFINANZ Group covers the acquisition and the active management of investment properties, the realisation of development projects and the sale of objects. IMMOFINANZ Group concentrates its activities in the retail, office, logistics and residential segments of eight regional core markets: Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Russia. Further information under www.immofinanz.com.

“We are very pleased to introduce Leonardo Hotels, an internationally renowned hotel chain, to Austria and to add a strong hotel brand to the Vienna hotel business. With this group of companies, we are setting new standards in the upper middle-class segment – both for business customers and city tourists”, was the comment made by Manfred Wiltschnigg, Executive Board member of IMMOFINANZ Group, regarding the successful signing of the contract. “Together we will establish a further highlight in this emerging neighbourhood around the Vienna Westbahnhof that was recently opened.”

The future Leonardo Hotel Vienna is located right on Europaplatz, only around 100 m from Mariahilfer Strasse, making it easily accessible both by private transport and local public transit. Once the reconstruction is completed, the hotel will feature 213 rooms and 3 meeting rooms. Plans include a spacious open lobby combining the bar, restaurant and lounge in an extensive entrance hall. Renovations will begin in January. An investment of around EUR 6 million has been allocated for a complete renovation of the hotel. The three-star superior Leonardo Hotel Vienna, the first of its kind in Austria, will open by the middle of the year.

IMMOFINANZ Group is one of the five largest listed property companies in Europe and is included in the leading ATX index of the Vienna Stock Exchange. Since its founding in 1990, the company has compiled a high-quality property portfolio that now comprises more than 1,600 standing investment properties with a carrying amount of approx. EUR 8.7 billion. The core business of the IMMOFINANZ Group covers the acquisition and the active management of investment properties, the realisation of development projects and the sale of objects. IMMOFINANZ Group concentrates its activities in the retail, office, logistics and residential segments of eight regional core markets: Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Russia. Further information under www.immofinanz.com.

Leonardo Hotels is the European division of Fattal Hotels, founded in 1998 by David Fattal. In addition to its hotel locations in Israel, the company has also been active in the European market since 2007 and currently operates over 30 hotels in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Hungary, with other attractive European sites to be added soon. The company head office is in Berlin, Germany.Further information under www.leonardo-hotels.com.

IMMOFINANZ Group is one of the five largest listed property companies in Europe and is included in the leading ATX index of the Vienna Stock Exchange. Since its founding in 1990, the company has compiled a high-quality property portfolio that now comprises more than 1,600 standing investment properties with a carrying amount of approx. EUR 8.7 billion. The core business of the IMMOFINANZ Group covers the acquisition and the active management of investment properties, the realisation of development projects and the sale of objects. IMMOFINANZ Group concentrates its activities in the retail, office, logistics and residential segments of eight regional core markets: Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Russia. Further information under www.immofinanz.com.

IMMOFINANZ Group confirmed the successful trend that characterised recent quarters with a strong result in Q2 2011/12. The net profit for the second quarter 2011/12 reached EUR 236.9 million, equivalent to an increase of 740% over the first quarter of the reporting year (EUR 28.2 million). Compared to the second quarter last year (EUR 49.3 million), the net profit for the period grew nearly five-fold (+380%). In addition to considerable increases in the operative components of this result, unlike in the first quarter of the reporting year, this time IMMOFINANZ Group also benefited from highly positive foreign exchange effects.

“We are well on the way of continuing with the stable development that we have seen in the past quarters. This development is marked by a consistent compliance with our optimisation strategy and by the cost reductions in the operative area: We have managed to profitably improve our real estate portfolio through active asset management, several transactions and through the realisation of in-house developments. When speaking about project developments, it was primarily the expansion of the Silesia City Center in Poland that was a full success and a clear sign to intensify our development activities even more in the future. The increased rental income is mostly due to the retail segment and the fact that we were able to lease more than 90% of our office space in Romania”, commented Eduard Zehetner, CEO of IMMOFINANZ Group, on the company’s developments in Q2.

Rental income amounted to EUR 283.7 million in the first six months of 2011/12, which represents an increase of 2.4% over the comparable prior year period (EUR 277.1 million). This positive development is attributable chiefly to the retail segment, where rental income rose by 11.9% or EUR 10.5 million over the first six months of the previous year. In the residential segment income increased by 4.8% over the same period of the previous year, whereas in the office (-10.5%) and logistics segment (-1.6%), they fell (especially in Eastern Europe). The decline in the office segment resulted from the sale of properties. Since 30/04/2011, IMMOFINANZ Group has sold five office properties in Austria and one in Germany.

Revenues rose by 2.9% for the first six months to currently EUR 374.7 million. Income from asset management increased in spite of the year-on-year rise by 2.3% to EUR 229.3 million in property expenses (2010/11:  EUR 224.2 million). These intensified optimisation measures – in particular, maintenance and renovation projects – are reflected in an amount of EUR 71.4 million (+7.4%). The objective of these improvement measures is to increase occupancy rates and rental income as well as future sales proceeds. 

The sale of properties during the reporting period generated income of EUR 24.1 million (2010/11: EUR 13.1 million).These transactions mainly involved properties in Austria, Germany and Poland. Property sales during the first six months of the reporting year included, among others, the 30% stake in the MyPlace SelfStorage logistics property as well as the Office Campus Gasometer office complex in Vienna, the Cirrus development project in Warsaw, various fund investments as well as residential property of BUWOG. These transactions reflect the steady implementation of the Group’s strategy to sell non-controlling interests or joint venture investments or to develop them into majority holdings. After the reporting period, the 50% joint venture interest in the Andreasquartier development project in Düsseldorf was sold. In accordance with IFRS standards, the investment’s revaluation surplus associated with the sale was already reported in the half-yearly report as of 31/10/2011.

The sale of inventories and the valuation of active development projects generated proceeds of EUR 42.4 million before foreign exchange effects for IMMOFINANZ Group. This represents a clear increase in comparison with the previous year (EUR -4.5 million) from this increasingly important source of income. The largest contribution to this outstanding result came from the extension of the Silesia City Center shopping center in Katowice, Poland.

The deconsolidation of a number of companies and the subsequent integration of the related asset management activities into existing structures led to a reduction in overhead costs. Administrative expenses (overhead costs and personnel expenses) compared to the same period last year, were reduced from EUR 79.5 million to EUR 61.9 million. This represents a decline of EUR 17.6 million or 22.2%.

As a result of the constant improvement of operative parameters, the results of operations with EUR 270.3 million clearly increased over the same period last year (EUR 176.3 million). Based on positive valuation results (incl. foreign exchange effects) of EUR 349.0 million (2010/11: EUR 91.4 million), IMMOFINANZ Group’s EBIT amounted to EUR 619.3 million (2010/11: EUR 267.7 million). In addition to operative improvements, this increase is due to improved property valuation results (EUR +74.7 million), higher foreign exchange effects (EUR +161.2 million), lower amortisation and depreciation (EUR -10.2 million) and lower additions to provisions (EUR -11.6 million) over the same period in the previous year. 

Financial results were clearly negative at EUR -315.7 million (2010/11: EUR -149.3 million). This also includes negative non-cash accounting foreign exchange effects of EUR -192.9 million (as contra items to the positive, valuation effects resulting from foreign exchange effects) as well as negative effects from the valuation of derivatives held for hedging purposes amounting to EUR -29.7 million. 

Earnings before tax (EBT) thus rose from EUR 118.4 million to EUR 303.6 million over the same period last year. Overall, net profits for the first six months of 2011/12 amounted to EUR 265.1 million. Excluding these non-cash foreign exchange effects, the net profit would have equaled EUR 198.6 million. This still would be double (+101.8%) the net profit adjusted for non-cash foreign currency effects (EUR 98.4 million). 

The operating cash flow rose by 32.8% to EUR 195.8 million over the same period the previous year. The approximate relevant cash flow for dividend distribution was increased by EUR 37.0 million to EUR 152.1 million (*). It comprises cash flow from earnings minus interest paid and received and the cash drain from derivatives plus income from property sales. For the reporting period, a dividend distribution of EUR 0.15/share, equaling a total of EUR 155.4 million is planned. 97.8% of this required amount have already been generated in the first six months of 2011/12. Since this cash flow calculation does not include any cash inflows from the sale of properties, but only the income generated from it, the planned  dividend distribution will be 100% feasible from the pure operating cash flow, provided that the company is not faced with any opposing trends.  

In spite of the volatility of the financial and capital markets, we continue to expect, however, a stable development in the IMMOFINANZ Group’s markets for the rest of the financial year.

Diluted net asset value (NAV) per share in spite of a distribution of dividends in October 2011 was increased by EUR 0.10 per share from EUR 5.36 on 30/04/2011 to EUR 5.47. This increase is based on the good results of the first six months of the reporting year. Based on the share price as of 30/11/2011 (EUR 2.228), the IMMOFINANZ share traded at a discount of 58.2% to the NAV per share. Diluted earnings per share for the first six months of 2011/12 amounted to EUR 0.25.

(*) The cash flow from the result (EUR 195.8 million) minus interest paid (EUR -73.0 million) plus interest received (EUR 8.8 million) minus cash outflow from derivatives (EUR -8.6 million) plus income from property sales (EUR 24.1 million) plus income from the sale of inventories minus production costs (EUR 4.9 million).

The current half-year report is now available at www.immofinanz.com. To view the report, please click the Investor Relations tab and go to Financial Reports.

IMMOFINANZ Group is one of the five largest listed property companies in Europe and is included in the leading ATX index of the Vienna Stock Exchange. Since its founding in 1990, the company has compiled a high-quality property portfolio that now comprises more than 1,600 standing investment properties with a carrying amount of approx. EUR 8.7 billion. The core business of the IMMOFINANZ Group covers the acquisition and the active management of investment properties, the realisation of development projects and the sale of objects. IMMOFINANZ Group concentrates its activities in the retail, office, logistics and residential segments of eight regional core markets: Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Russia. Further information under www.immofinanz.com.

Each year the real estate magazine “Construction & Investment Journal“ presents the CIJ Award, a much-admired prize among branch specialists, for projects in Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary. In Romania, this year’s award in the category “Best New Shopping Center“ was presented to IMMOFINANZ Group. The independent jury chose the Maritimo Shopping Center development project over four competitors in a two-step evaluation process. The Maritimo Shopping Center is one of Romania’s most modern shopping malls and, within a short period of time, has established a position with local residents as a popular shopping and entertainment facility. More than 130 stores offer an attractive mix of food products, fashion, sport, electronics, leisure and gastronomy on over 50,000 sqm.

“Over the past year our team did an outstanding job in completing the Maritimo Shopping Center in less than 18 months to prepare for the opening this autumn. We took over complete ownership of this project, which was originally planned in 2010 as a joint venture, during a difficult phase. I am therefore particularly pleased to see that our efforts and high quality standards were recognised by an independent jury with the CIJ Award for “Best New Shopping Center Development“,“ commented Eduard Zehetner, Chief Executive Officer of IMMOFINANZ Group. “This prize also reinforces our decision to further expand the development department we established in autumn 2010 and to increase our focus on these types of projects in the future.“

The Maritimo Shopping Center and the recently opened Silesia City Center extension in Poland are two of the most important development projects completed by IMMOFINANZ Group this year. The company is currently working on 28 other development projects. The next planned completion is the GoodZone shopping center in Moscow, which is scheduled to open in 2012.

IMMOFINANZ Group is one of the five largest listed property companies in Europe and is included in the leading ATX index of the Vienna Stock Exchange. Since its founding in 1990, the company has compiled a high-quality property portfolio that now comprises more than 1,600 standing investment properties with a carrying amount of approx. EUR 8.4 billion. The core business of the IMMOFINANZ Group covers the acquisition and the active management of investment properties, the realisation of development projects and the sale of objects. IMMOFINANZ Group concentrates its activities in the retail, office, logistics and residential segments of eight regional core markets: Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Russia. Further information

For IMMOFINANZ Group, the sale of its stake in the Andreas Quarter represents the next step in the steady implementation of the corporate strategy to sell projects with non-controlling interests or to transform them into majority holdings. The decision in favour of an exit reflected the fact that the Andreas Quarter, in the given joint venture structure, was not expected to generate the profitability required by a listed company over the medium-term. 

“The Andreas Quarter is an excellent, but very demanding development project. The usage concept represents a particular challenge, above all with respect to profitability, because of legal regulations covering the protection of historical buildings. Furthermore, the optimisation of the portfolio is still one of our top priorities. The proceeds generated by the sale of the Andreas Quarter will be reinvested in our East European core markets, at locations where we expect the highest returns over the medium- to long-term: for example in Poland or Russia“, explained Eduard Zehetner, Chief Executive Officer of IMMOFINANZ Group, on this transaction.

Pursuant to § 93 (1) of the Austrian Stock Exchange Act, IMMOFINANZ AG hereby gives notice that at the end of November 2011 the number of voting rights amounts to a total of 1,140,478,770 voting rights. The Company’s share capital is EUR 1,184,026,064.67 and is divided into 1,140,478,770 ordinary no-par value shares which currently represent a portion of the share capital of approximately EUR 1.04 each.

These changes are due to the exercise of conversion rights by holders of convertible bonds of IMMOFINANZ AG.