2023 Direct Investment Result at €2.32 per share
2023 Total Dividend €1.70 per share
Performance and business highlights
• Strong like-for-like rental growth of 9.7% (4.7% in 2022) supported by rental indexation, higher turnover
rent and the lease renewal and reletting programme.
• For the year 2023 retail sales and footfall were respectively 5.8% and 3.4% higher than for the same
period last year.
• Rent uplifts from renewals and relettings, on top of indexed passing rent, were 2.8% higher for the 12
months to 31 December 2023 during which period 240 lease transactions were signed.
• EPRA vacancy rate at 31 December 2023 remained at its historically low level of 1.5%, same as a year
ago.
• Occupancy cost ratio (OCR) was 9.5% at 31 December 2023.
• Property values declined by 2.2% over the year and by 2% over six months as a result of higher yields.
The overall EPRA net initial yield has risen to 5.8%.
• Rent collection rate improved further in 2023 reaching 99% (98% in 2022).
• Important merchandising projects underway at Woluwe to provide new stores for Zara, C&A, Carrefour
and the INNO department store in order to accommodate their latest concepts.
• Eurocommercial maintained its GRESB 4 Star Rating, achieving its highest score to date, and also
received an EPRA Gold Award for sustainability reporting for the tenth consecutive year (sBPR).
• Terms agreed for all long-term loans maturing in 2024 for a total amount of €171 million and being
extended for three to five years.
• Direct investment result €2.32 per share for the year 2023 compared to €2.28 for the previous year.
• Proposed total dividend of €1.70 per share for the year 2023, an increase of 6.25% compared to
€1.60 in 2022. In accordance with the Company’s dividend policy, an interim cash dividend of €0.64
per share was paid in January 2024. A final cash dividend of €1.06 per share will be payable on 5
July 2024, subject to AGM approval. Shareholders will also be offered the opportunity to opt for a
stock dividend instead of the final cash dividend.
• Direct investment result guidance for the full year 2024 ranging between €2.30 and €2.40 per
share.
2
Board of Management’s commentary
Consumer spending across our four markets continued to be very robust during 2023 despite increased
living costs, particularly energy and food. Our retail operations saw a continuation of the growth reported
last year, with retail sales and footfall in our 24 shopping centres increasing by 5.8% and 3.4% respectively
during 2023. All our markets and retail sectors reported positive sales growth, with the outstanding
performers being services (15.4%), F&B (14.7%), sport (9.7%), health & beauty (9.4%) and home goods
(7.1%). The fashion and shoe sector also saw positive sales growth of 2.2%.
Rental growth for the 12 months to 31 December 2023 was 9.7%, due mainly to significantly higher rental
indexation. 99% of rents have been collected for the full year 2023, indicating that there has been a full
pass through of indexation to our tenants who are generally trading well from an affordable rental base
and a low OCR, which still averages only 9.5%. Our leasing teams continued to report steady leasing
momentum, negotiating 240 lease renewals and relettings during the 12-month period ended 31 December
2023. These lease transactions achieved an overall rental uplift of 2.8% on top of the high levels of rental
indexation that was applied across the portfolio. Strong tenant demand and letting activity have also kept
our overall vacancy level down at only 1.5%.
Our valuations decreased by 2.2% over the year and by 2% since June 2023 when the properties were
last valued. The largest decrease in value was Belgium (-7.6%), followed by Sweden (-1.6%), France (-
1.5%) and Italy (-0.6%) over six months. Despite significantly higher net operating income, this decrease
in value resulted from higher initial or exit yields and higher discount rates, with the overall EPRA net initial
yield increasing from 5.5% to 5.8%. Higher yields were a reflection of an investment market with relatively
low transaction volumes and characterised by cautious investors, pricing uncertainty, increasing interest
rates and rising borrowing costs.
During 2023, we completed the negotiations on several anchor stores at Woluwe Shopping, and during
the spring Zara will open an enlarged store of around 3,300m², which will be shortly followed by C&A, who
are relocating to a unit of 1,455m². INNO have also started the refurbishment of their 12,000m² flagship
store, while Carrefour are taking over Woluwe’s supermarket, historically operated by Match. In Sweden,
the final phase of the project at Valbo located outside Gävle opened on 28 October 2023, providing a new
entrance, external façades and an extension comprising seven new stores let to important Swedish
retailers in the F&B, fashion and consumer electronic sectors.
The Company has already secured the refinancing of all its long-term loans maturing in 2024. In February
2024, a new loan of €17.5 million (€8.8 million group share) was signed with Banco BPM to refinance the
previous loan on the retail park at Fiordaliso in Italy. In March 2024, the Company closed three five-year
sustainability linked loans with ABN AMRO Bank for a total amount of €100 million on the centres of I
Portali and Il Castello in Italy. In March 2024, the Company also agreed terms to extend for a period of
five years the green loan with Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB for a total amount of SEK 700 million
(circa €62.5 million) on the Hallarna shopping centre.
The average interest rate as per 31 December 2023 increased to 3.2% from 2.9% at 30 June 2023 and
from 2.4% at 31 December 2022, as a result of the progressive increase in both the Stibor and Euribor
rates, which impacted on the 19% unhedged part of the Company’s loan portfolio.
Since its incorporation in 1991, the Company qualifies as a fiscal investment institution (fiscale
beleggingsinstelling or FBI) under Dutch tax law. This implies that the Company is subject to corporate
income tax at the rate of zero percent, provided it distributes its taxable profit to its shareholders. These
distributions are subject to 15% Dutch dividend withholding tax. On 27 December 2023, the act to amend the FBI regime was published, which no longer allows an FBI to invest in Dutch real estate, unless through
a subsidiary/subsidiaries that is/are subject to the regular Dutch corporate income tax rate. There is no
limitation for the FBI to invest in foreign properties. The amendment will take effect as from 1 January 2025. Eurocommercial will not be affected by this change as it has no Dutch real estate. The Company ....

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