The sale of the Kika/Leiner property was due to “strategic considerations,” the Signa Group said in a recent interview. However, these can also have a financial background.
Because there are very high credit obligations in the department store juggler René Benko’s business. Financial expert Gerald Zmuegg looked at the balance sheets of Signa Prime Selection AG and Signa Development Selection AG, which are stored in the trade register. It is striking that the annual accounts for 2019 and 2020 were only filed this year and have not yet been explained about the subsequent period. But on December 31, 2020, the said Signa companies had financial debts of 10.3 billion euros. The repayment obligation (including interest) will amount to more than four billion euros in 2025.
“Increase rental income or sale”
The reported cash flow from the consolidated accounts (this included not only kika/Leiner locations, but also Kaufhof/Karstadt in Germany and others) is not sufficient to meet the obligations to the banks (interest and principal). “Either they should significantly increase rental income in the coming years, or sell property with hidden reserves.”
Both real estate groups had revaluations and write-downs of the portfolio, without which there would have been a negative annual result. “The sale of kika/Leiner at least helps to reduce debt,” says Zmuegg, who was surprised that no consolidated financial statements for 2021 had been filed with the trade register.
So far no statement has been received from Signa.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
