Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for your interest in our company and for attending this presentation. Pleased to be joined today by René Häsler, our CFO, and Laurence Bienz, our Investor Relation. The agenda for today's presentation is as follow: I will start with the highlights, followed by an overview of the market trends. After that, René will provide you with the financial overview of this first half year. Finally, I will conclude with an outlook before we move on the Q&A session. So before the highlight, I would like exactly to highlight what we have achieved since 2022 . The value we have been able to generate thanks to our strategy. Firstly, back in 2021 , we observed that interest rates were rising.
We decided to sell part of our portfolio to reduce our debt and position ourselves higher power to purchase properties under better condition when the opportunity arose. In April 2022, we were able to successfully execute this strategy by selling a portfolio for CHF 376 million, generating CHF 10 million revenue. The Swiss National Bank increased rates to 1.75%, and it was clear to us that we needed to wait until the situation stabilized, and so we could begin to acquire properties 2023, under very favorable condition, much better than those at which we had sold. This strategy allowed us to acquire properties worth CHF 289 million by the end of August 2024, generating CHF 17.1 million. Despite this acquisition, we have maintained a very low LTV ratio compared to the sector.
This still provide us with substantial firepower to continue purchasing properties and are actively doing. Our goal is to acquire an additional CHF 150 million worth of properties by the end of 2024. This approach clearly enable investors to build equity and effectively navigate market cycles to create value. Raising the strong potential for acquisition, we strategically decided to divest our real estate service division, which we sold under excellent conditions for over CHF 240 million to the Finnish group, PHM Group. These two well-timed sales decision allowed investors to create significant equity for our shareholders. As a result, our equity increased from CHF 425 million before the IPO in June 2016 to CHF 1.236 billion by end of June 2024. This demonstrate Investis' ability to anticipate market trends and create value for its shareholders.
Now that we have sold our real estate, established as a pure player in a residential real estate, French-speaking region of Switzerland, particularly in Lausanne and Geneva. Highlights. At the group level, we are pleased operating performance. Our top line grew by 1.5%, reaching CHF 170 million. The successful disposal of our real estate service segment generated a substantial gain of CHF 122 million, contributing significant financial result. Excluding revaluation effect, our net profit stood at CHF 139 million, and our NAV per share is robust at 107.92, excluding deferred tax related to properties. We maintain a very solid capital structure, with an LTV ratio at a low 19% and equity ratio of 72%. In our property segment, the portfolio value stands at CHF 1.6 billion.
We have achieved excellent like-for-like rental 1.8%, with the residential properties performing particularly well, posting a growth rate of 2%. The vacancy rate remains exceptionally low at 1%, which shows the high demand of our properties. We have seen a marginal rise in the average discount rate by two basis points to 2.99%, reflecting the current market condition. Moreover, our revaluation gain amount to CHF 4.5 million. The Real E state Service segment, we successfully completed the sale on June 24. This strategic move has been highly beneficial for the company, reflected in the excellent EBIT margin of 9.8%, achieved. The sale of this segment is in line with our long-term strategy of focusing on our core real estate activities. Marketing, market trends.
On the current market trends, I would like to first highlight the real estate market in the Lake Geneva region. First, we see that migration and demography play a crucial role. Immigration levels are expected to remain high, with net immigration into Switzerland peaking in 2023. The growth of the population in Geneva over the past 12 months had been significant, showing an increase of 1.1%. Moving on the construction activity, the Lake Geneva region stands dynamics. It has the lowest portion of homeowners in Switzerland, with a higher tendency to rent than to buy. Despite this, the number of construction permits is at its lowest, and the vacancy rate remains the lowest in the country. Now regarding regulation, no change there.
The tax regime for corporation in the Lake Geneva region continues to be one of the most attractive in Switzerland, encouraging investment and economic activity. Finally, in the capital market, we observed that has lowered. However, we anticipate further interest rate cut in 2024 . Now, we're going to go through some interesting slides on the real estate market. So the seven, we can see that the Lake Geneva region, particularly the Canton of Vaud and Geneva, is expected to experience above average population growth through twenty thirty. And this growth is driven by the region's strong economic and relatively young population, making it a highly desirable area for both living and working. However, it's important to note that the strongest demographic growth may occur more in the surrounding countryside as price rise in Lausanne and Geneva agglomeration. Households are more affordable in the countryside.
On the next slide, we can see that the two cities where we make our investment, Geneva and Lausanne, affected by this undersupply situation, and this undersupply is driven by strong population growth and limited development activity. Of course, this results in a pressure on rents and prices as higher than the supply. Next slide, vacancy rate in Geneva. Of course, it shows the vacancy rate in Investis key market, particularly Geneva and Vaud, remains well below the... In Vaud, the vacancy rate is significantly below 1%, and in Geneva, it remains very low, right under 0.5%, despite the ongoing construction activity. Next slide, market absorptions. It shows that the strong market absorption in the Lake Geneva region, particularly in Canton of Geneva.
As of the first half of 2024, approximately 8,000 apartments were under construction in Geneva, making a rebound from the fourth quarter of 2023, when the number of units under construction hit its lowest level in five years. Despite this increase in construction activity, the vacancy rate has remained exceptionally low or below 0.5%. This quick market absorption is driven by strong underlying demand, which is fueled by both domestic demography and immigration. This persistent demand has ensured that even with the rise in the number of units, the market remain tight, keeping vacancy rates minimal. Now, on the next slide, yield premium. This graph illustrate the relationship between the 10-year bond yield and residential real estate yields over time.
Historically, this risk premium or the difference between these two had been in the range of 2%-2.5%. However, we observed a rapid compression in 2022, driven by rising interest rates, and more recently, in 2023 and 2024, the yields demanded for residential real estate transaction have significantly increased, bringing the net yield back up to around 2.5%. The interest rate have started to decrease again. Investis' position on interest rate and the overall economic environment is clear. As I already mentioned on multiple occasions, the financial situation of our neighboring countries, with France, Italy, and the Southern European nation, along with the current economic condition of Germany, suggests that the Swiss francs will continue to increase.
And this economic backdrop will exert significant pressure on the Swiss National Bank in given Switzerland relatively stronger position compared to its neighbors. I believe that by. As I said already before, that by 2026 , interest rate in Switzerland will return to zero. Consequently, the situation will lead again to a strong demand for residential real estate. So as I mentioned earlier, our strategic decision to sell at the peak and buy on the recent price correction was an excellent move, allowing us to generate substantial equity for our shareholders. On the page seven, regarding the Swiss market, the graph shows that rents in Switzerland are rising sharply, particularly in 2023, 2024. And offered rents have increased, indicating a strong demand, while existing rents are also trending upwards.
This rise in rents correlates with a peak in inflation, suggesting that the higher living costs are driving up rental prices around. Vacancy rate in Switzerland on the next slide. Over the years, the vacancy rate for rented apartment peaked around 2019, 2020, but has since been declining. This decrease suggests a tightening with fewer apartment available. Meanwhile, vacancy rate for all apartment and home ownership remain relatively stable, further indicating also a strong demand for rental properties. So now if I do a quick summary regarding the market trends. The real estate market in the Lake Geneva region is showing strong fundamentals. Investment activity has rebounded at the end of this in the residential sector, driven by attractive yields compared to risk-free investment.
Despite ongoing construction, vacancy rates are expected to continue declining due to strong demographic growth. And overall, the Swiss in this region remain robust, with residential portfolio demonstrating resilience over time. So next slide. This is our property in Rue du Nant, which, as I always say, shows perfectly well. Once again, in the first six months of the year, we managed to slightly increase rents by 0.5%. This modest increase is due to lower tenant turnover in the building. However, what we've observed, at the end of 2023, there was a decrease in the building value, and now in the latest evaluation, we've seen again from CHF 24 million to CHF 24.1 million. And this property shows that our model is very well.
So a brief summary of Investis position in the Swiss real estate market. We hold a unique position in the Swiss real estate markets by focusing on area with constant under supply and low vacancy rate. It targets the middle segment of market, not luxury homes, and operate in city center, where the number of residential properties is not increasing. And this approach ensures sustainable high rental growth. Thank you. And now I'll hand over to René for the financial overview.
Thank you, Stéphane. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, also from my side. So on page 18, just another overview of the group results. As you know, we still had for the year 2024 two segments, which is properties and the real estate services that we sold just before the balance sheet date. On page 19, you have the overview of this excellent operating. Let me explain these excellent figures more deeply on the next pages. I started segment properties. Revenue grows 7.7% to CHF 28 million in the first like for like, mentioned by Stéphane, was 1.8%, and will continue to stabilize in the second half of the year. Vacancy rate we have no vacancy literally.
This is our bottom line. And the average discount rate that was mentioned increased slightly by two basis points. Due to the acquisitions, we've had overall higher discount rate. In the existing portfolio, we had no changes in the discount rates. Gross rental income stood at CHF 62 million at the end of June. I will come back to that on my last slide. If you look at the development over the years, you see the half year and full year income. Important to mention is that we had a compound average growth of like for like rental increases of 2% over these years since 2020 . And we don't see a negative trend going forward, so we confirm our ambitions to grow like for like between 1% and 2% year on year.
Page twenty-two, you have the characteristics of our portfolio. We are residential, we are Geneva, mostly. And we have one to three room apartments, which is the most demanded in that region. And that shows that it is very demanded when you look at our vacancy rates for both residential Geneva. We are even at 0.7% below the 1% that we have on average. Is there still rent potential? Yes. CBRE, our appraiser, appraisal, estimates that the market are 13% above current rents, is now very stable. Over the years, it was 12% at the year-end, and before it, it was a low of 10%, but quickly reestablished in the last 12 months. On the right, you have the key figures that drive our performance.
We have 69% of our rental agreements are indexed to the CPI, not to the reference rate, as other, especially resident property owners, have in their portfolio. We have a constant turnover of 11% in our tenants, and as I said, the target is 1% to 2% growth year on year, like for like. I will come back to property segment with my last slide, but let's dig into the real estate services, probably for the last time. So we sold the seven units on the 24th of June, and that means that we lack one week of sales, which can be counted for CHF 4 million.
So that would have led to or has led to a organic growth of 3.5% as per 24th of June, which is not visible if you compare to the full six months in price. Was CHF 90 million of turnover. Excellent EBIT margin continued in this business, 9.8%. And, yeah, I think that's it for that segment. But I would like to summarize what we performed over the years. On the next page, 25, you see a little bit what we did over the years. So we started at the IPO with a revenue of, let's say CHF 130-ish million. Increased that business to CHF 182 million. We had one bigger sale, which was the sale of [luxury home] , and we stopped our construction management business.
Nevertheless, we increased over the years or doubled the EBIT margin then. And if you look what we, on the right side, what we invested in that business. So we had net assets at the IPO of roughly CHF 20 million. We still have the same magnitude and, the sales point, even so, we grew the business considerably. We did acquisition, yes, and paid goodwill. This amount to CHF 95 million, so invested capital in that segment was CHF 121 million, and we sold it for CHF 243 million, which gives that gain of CHF 122 million. So also in this segment, we doubled the value of the invested capital over the years. I would say a very successful journey and an even, successful disposal at the end of June. Coming back to, below EBIT.
We have actually two important alliance, which is financial expenses, the interest that we pay on our debt, which tripled compared to the six months a year ago, but with that low level of debt and having considerable very cheap bond with a coupon of 0.05%, that unfortunately we had to pay back in October 2023, so last year benefited from this low-interest cost, which meanwhile, as you know, has changed, and the financial expense stood at CHF 3.3 million in the first six months. Income tax below the expectation as the gain on sale is mostly tax-free. That's benefited in the tax rate of 2.9%, which is not going to be repeated in the future.
Tax rate, I would say, in the future, would be around 15%. Yeah, balance sheet, it is even stronger after the sale. We still have the same key elements. We have the portfolio on one side, the financial debts, tax liabilities on the other side, which then gives in the delta our very strong shareholders' equity of CHF 1.2 billion, which rose another CHF 207 million versus year-end 2023. What can you derive from these numbers? We have a very low of 19% at the end of June, and that strong equity ratio of 72%. Some information on our financial debts, which stood at CHF 300 million at the end of June. That changed peak due to our acquisitions.
But we are still well positioned, and as you know, middle of August we issued, or end of July we issued, and sixteenth of August we issued a bond of CHF 100 million, which has a coupon of 1.45%. This was a two-year bond, and I probably am not giving away any secrets if I say that more is to come. Before I hand over to Stéphane on the outlook, let me just summarize what we did in the last two months since the balance sheet date in terms of transactions, and also a recap of what Stéphane already mentioned. When we sold 11 buildings, and with the purchase we did in the last nine months.
So, on the right, you see, we still have an excess of disposal cash of CHF 87 million, but on the other side, we gross rental income by 61%. This is the difference between the portfolio sold and the acquisitions, already concluded as of today. And, Stéphane once told you that he aims to purchase the same, half the price. And if you compare the gross yield sold, 2.82%, and the gross yield purchased, 5.92%, then, his mission is accomplished and, even better than half the price we purchased our buildings. Key figures.
Before the sale, we had a portfolio of CHF 1.7 billion. Now we are roughly CHF 1.8 billion, so a little bit larger, but with a considerably lower LTV and even stronger balance sheet. NAV increased in these three years by CHF 272 million. So LTV stays even after these transactions below 45%. And if we can conclude the ambition of Stéphane to purchase another CHF 150 million in buildings until year-end, LTV would still be below 31%, at... With that, thank you. I hand over to Stéphane.
Thank you, René. Outlook. First, I'd like to highlight the continuous strength of the market in which we are invested. The Lake Geneva region, in particular, remains a highly attractive area for residential. As we mentioned, René and me, our focus for the coming months is on expanding our portfolio, with a target to acquire an additional CHF 150 million worth of properties by the end of this year. And this strategic move solidify our position in this robust market. To conclude, Investis is uniquely positioned in the Swiss real estate landscape as the only listed residential real estate company focused exclusively on the French-speaking region of Switzerland.
Our portfolio consists of well-maintained properties that consistently attract high demand ensuring sustainable rental growth, which is finally during and all these last year; it shows it. With low vacancy rate and a strong market presence, we continue to see potential for double-digit rent increase, driven by continuous tenant turnover, and parallelly, we maintained a solid balance sheet with low debt, enabling conservative financing and maximize our investment power. This approach not only secures attractive returns, but also position Investis as a leader in the residential real estate market. Thank you for your attention, and now we are ready for the Q&A session.
We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touchtone telephone. You will hear a tone to confirm that you have entered a queue. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Questioners on the phone are requested to use only handset and eventually turn off the volume of the webcast. Webcast viewers may submit their questions or comment in writing by the relevant field. Anyone with a question may press star and one at this time. The first question comes from Holger Frisch from Zürcher Kantonalbank. Please go ahead.
Yes. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. I still try to understand what happened with all your portfolio transactions. Maybe you can explain a bit more in detail. Because in June you announced that you are agreed to acquire five properties for CHF 201 million. And now in the reporting, you said that you already acquired five properties by the end of June, but you didn't mention a purchase price. And then you also said there were another four properties acquired in July, August for CHF 159 million. Could you just explain this in detail that I better understand what actually happened, what was already announced in June, and what is the new or what are the new properties that you acquired or at least agreed to acquire by end of August?
Yes, I try to give you more light and into these numbers. I acknowledge that it might not be easy to understand part of the transactions that we announced on the 7th of June, the 24th of June, and the 24th of July, that they were not closed in the June balance sheet. Five acquisitions could be concluded until end of June. So, the purchase price there were about CHF 78 million, as you can see in the whole year report. Then we announced that we additional transactions after or signed or concluded after the balance sheet date in July, August, and these are the CHF 159 million purchase price that you communicate.
Okay. Okay, thanks. Then maybe another question on the portfolio. By the end of December, you reported that you have 152 properties in your portfolio, and now you're standing at 162 . And if I saw it correctly, you sold two properties in Mägenwil, Hausen, and you only acquired five properties. So where's the missing difference or what happened to the missing difference of seven properties?
So, first of all, the two properties, Hausen and Meggen, were not sold. They were transferred.
Okay.
We still have the same tenant as before. It's Hauswartprofis and Rohr, formerly two companies.
Mm-hmm.
That were fully consolidated, so it was an internal transfer. And the buyer of these companies didn't want to own properties, so we made a from his view. When we talk about the properties, as you know, we always count the, as normally in our industry, the entrance to the buildings and not the for all. And the five properties purchased that refers to plots or which some of them have several entries, and that's why you cannot add up all these numbers one and one.
Okay, understood. Thank you.
Welcome.
As a reminder, if you wish to register for a question, please press star followed by one. Gentlemen, so far there are no further questions. Sorry to interrupt. I can see now a registration from Ulrich Kaluscha from MV Invest. Please go ahead.
Good morning to all of you. I have a follow-up question on the acquisitions of this in June and July. I mean, as we see the CHF 195 million and the CHF 10 million in rental income, that equates to roughly something like six point something yield. Can you shed some light on the risk profile of these properties?
So, part of this property, two properties are office buildings. One is the Geneva Business Center in Petit-Lancy, and the other one is in Versoix, is a fully let building with mainly doctors, et cetera. But it's really at a conservative price per square meter in Versoix. And the other one is maybe I would not say it has a risky profile because it's quite diversified with 80 different tenants in Petit-Lancy. But of course what we've seen during this last year is that the interest in office was very low, and we could acquire these two properties at a very high yield. In time, the residential buildings, they were paid more with a yield around 5% or a little bit under 5%.
And we decided to buy it because if you just calculate the property in Petit-Lancy, the replacement cost is much higher, is even 50% higher than the price we paid. So there we are more investing opportunistically, and I've always was little bit the idea to say, "Okay, going forward, it's always the same story." You know, there is nothing on the market, everyone is looking for an asset, the price. And maybe our strategy - so that's my wish.
I said, "Maybe we're gonna buy till the end of this year, maybe more than CHF 150 million, if we are able to." And I'm also ready maybe to sell in two years, the property that they are not profiling exactly, the target of investors. But this... And in the same time, we're gonna generate a lot of equity because, you know, two years ago, such property, the price were 3.5% gross yield, around seven. You can expect that maybe you're gonna double your investment. So for these two property, we were more opportunistic, but for now, we bought even at the end, property in Clarens, so it's residential. We bought...
Now we are trying to close also only residential property also in Lausanne, so we are still focusing on that one, but we also can be more opportunistic with a view that maybe this property will not stay in our portfolio. If we can remove or if we can change the apartments, then we're happy to do it, but also if we can sell it, we're gonna sell it.
Yeah. Thank you very much.
The next question comes from Philippe Züger from ZKB. Please, go ahead.
Yes, good morning. I do have a follow-up question on the Geneva Business Center in, in Petit-Lancy. What was exactly the yield on the portfolio? And may you also give a a highlight on the vacancy, on the current vacancy rate of the, of that building?
The yield was 7.3%, and the vacancy rate is, I think, just data center but it was higher, but we reduced already because the rent was the property was 8.6%. Now, we reduce it 7.3% because the acquisition price was one hundred four or seven, what was it? CHF 104 million, CHF 104 million , and this was 8.6% . We reduced it to 7.6%, as we think that the data center, who is vacant we put a price storage at CHF 100 per sq m. So then it's quite low, is maybe represent 4% something under 5% vacancy rate.
Okay. What's the average vacancy rate of all the acquisitions you did in the-
I think it's just in this property we have vacant, vacancies.
Okay.
Just this property. All the other one, they are full.
Forward-looking, are you going to buy only residential or like commercial and then transform them to residential? Or what is the plan?
Actually, we make quite a lot of offers, and it's more residential. But of course, if I see that I can turn the office building into apartment buildings, of course, and if we can buy it at a very low price per square meter. And as you know, in Geneva the market, when the rents are not controlled when you rent an apartment. Of course, we are still opportunistic, and we are watching such opportunities. But actually, all what we have in the pipeline is more residential.
Okay. Okay, thank you.
The next question comes from Holger Frisch from Zürcher Kantonalbank. Please, go ahead.
Yes, I have a clarification question. You said you acquired properties for CHF 78 million in the first half and then for CHF 159 million in July, August. And so the CHF 150 million you mentioned, these are additional purchases that you want to make in the second half of the year, right?
Correct.
Okay. Overall, if you take a look at your portfolio structure, what is the targeted split between residential and commercial? Is there a maximum level of commercial properties that you would like to have or defined?
So the goal was always, you know, is roughly 80% residential, maximum 20% commercial.
Okay. Thank you.
Gentlemen, so far, there are no further questions. Back over to you for any closing remarks.
Thank you for your attention and your interest again for Investis, and I wish you a very good day. Thank you. Bye-bye.
Thank you. Bye-bye. See you soon.