Corio Loss Narrows, Offers No Outlook Due To Takeover Talks

Dutch real-estate company Corio NV( CORA.AE) Thursday said its net loss in 2009 narrowed, mainly due to improved rental income, but said it won't give an outlook for this year until it completes talks about the acquisition of a number of malls in Western Europe.

Corio currently is in talks with Dutch peer Multi Corp. about the acquisition of a number of malls in Western Europe, and Germany, in particular. The company said that it will provide an outlook for 2010 once these talks have been concluded.

Corio posted a full-year net loss of EUR131.9 million compared with a net loss of EUR239.6 million in 2008. The bottom line was hurt by EUR389.7 million in write-downs on the value of its assets.

Like many real-estate investors, Corio has been hit hard by the economic downturn due to hefty impairments on the value of its properties. At the end of 2009, Corio's portfolio was valued at EUR5.89 billion, 2.5% lower than a year ago.

The group's direct result, which excludes the impact of real-estate revaluations, tax, operating expenses and one-off items, rose to EUR218.2 million from EUR204.1 million in 2008.

Investors watch this figure closely, as it is used to calculate dividend payments.

Corio is one of Europe's biggest investors in shopping malls and competes with Franco-Dutch Unibail-Rodamco SA (UL.FR) and Netherlands-based Wereldhave NV (WHA.AE). Its biggest tenants include food and fashion retailers such as Royal Ahold NV (AH.AE), Hennes & Mauritz AB (HM-B.SK) and Inditex SA (ITX.MC).

Corio's shares closed Thursday at EUR43.87.

-By Maarten van Tartwijk; Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]

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