Results

In 2023, the full-year result declined to -€ 476.7 million from € 37.1 million in 2022. The decline of € 513.8 million was mainly driven by the valuation loss on the investment properties and partly offset by an increase of the net rental income. 

Revenues of € 300.7 million were € 21.3 million higher than in 2022 (€ 279.3 million), driven by higher gross rental income (€ 18.7 million) due to new investments made in the course of the year, higher rents and a higher occupancy rate partly offset by eight disposals in 2023. The occupancy rate increased by 0.4% points to 98.8% compared with 2022 (98.4%). 

Operating expenses of € 94.0 million were € 5.9 million higher than in 2022 (€ 88.1 million). This increase was primarily driven by higher maintenance costs (€ 3.1 million), higher non-reclaimable VAT (€ 1.3 million), higher owners associations expenses (€ 2.0 million) and higher property management fees (€ 0.6 million) partly offset by increased service charge expenses (€ 1.2 million) due to higher energy prices. The addition to the provision for bad debtors in 2023 (€ 0.4 million) was € 0.1 million higher than in 2022 (€ 0.3 million) due to slightly higher overall outstanding tenant receivables. As a result of an increase of operating expenses and the lower average NAV, the REER rose to 1.16% in 2023 from 0.99% in 2022.

Administrative expenses, consisting primarily of the management fee, declined to € 35.2 million (2022: € 41.0 million). This drop of € 5.8 million was primarily due to lower management fees resulting from the lower average NAV during the year. The finance loss decreased by € 3.6 million to € -0.4 million, due to the effect of higher interest rates (€ 3.5 million) and lower lease liability-related expenses (€ 0.1 million). As a result of the higher time-weighted GAV, the TGER declined very slightly to 0.50% in 2023 from 0.51% in 2022.  

Dividend

As a result of the Fund’s fiscal investment institution (FII) status, Bouwinvest will distribute all of the distributable result to its shareholders through four quarterly interim dividend payments and one final dividend payment. 

The Management Board proposes to pay a dividend of € 174.5 million for 2023 (2022: € 149.5 million), which corresponds to a pay-out ratio of 100%. It is proposed that the dividend will be paid in cash, within the constraints imposed by the company’s fiscal investment institution (FII) status. Of this total dividend, 77% was paid out in the course of 2023. The fourth instalment was paid on 15 February 2024. The rest of the distribution over 2023 will be paid in one final instalment following the adoption of the financial statements at the Annual General Meeting of shareholders on 10 April 2024. 

Funding

According to the funding policy, the Fund is allowed to have an unsecured pipeline, which is capped at 5% of the Fund's NAV with a maximum of € 370 million. At the end of 2023, the funding for the acquisition pipeline was completely secured. 

In 2023, the Fund managed to make € 90 million in capital calls and received one new commitment from an existing shareholder for an amount of € 92 million. For reasons of a strategic reallocation, anchor shareholder bpfBOUW submitted a redemption request for an amount of € 340 million in 2022. In 2023, the Fund received new redemption requests from various shareholders of € 113 million. The total redemption requests amounted to € 453 million, of which € 94 million was remaining as of 31 December 2023. In 2023, the Fund purchased 28,637 shares from bpfBOUW and various other shareholders, of which 18,138 of these shares became part of the Fund’s equity and were withdrawn in January 2024. At the GM of 13 December 2023, this reduction of capital was approved by shareholders. In total, 10,499 shares were re-issued in the course of the last year.

In February 2024 10,500 shares are redeemed for a total amount of € 50 million. These shares were re-issued at the same day.

Leverage

Leverage policy: In line with the Fund's terms and conditions, it is allowed to incur debt up to a maximum of 3% of the Net Asset Value, to bridge any temporary liquidity constraints and accommodate distributions to shareholders and redemptions of shares. 

In 2023, the Fund was financed solely with equity and did not use any loan capital for liquidity management purposes. 

Treasury management

Treasury policy: For treasury management purposes, the Fund acted in accordance with Bouwinvest’s treasury policy in 2023, to manage the Fund’s liquidity and financial risks. The main objectives of the treasury management activities were to secure shareholders’ dividend pay-outs, ensure other obligations could be met and to manage the Fund’s cash position. 

At year-end 2023, the Fund had € 52.8 million (2022: € 47.4 million) freely available in cash. 

In 2023, the Fund’s cash position increased by € 5.4 million compared with year-end 2022. In 2023, the Fund paid out € 170.0 million in dividend to its shareholders. Reference is made to the cash flow statement for the cash movements during 2023.

Interest rate and currency exposure

Interest rate and currency policy: As the Fund had no external loans or borrowings, nor any foreign currency exposure, the Fund had no exposure to interest rate risks or currency exposure risks. The interest rate risk related to bank balances is limited for the Residential Fund. 

In 2023, the Fund’s bank balances were positively affected by interest rate developments. 

Tax

FII regime: The Fund qualifies as a fiscal investment institution (FII) under Dutch law and as such is subject to corporate tax at a rate of zero percent. Being an FII, the Fund is obliged to distribute its entire fiscal result annually. In 2023, the Fund complied with FII requirements. Furthermore, the Fund met its obligations related to value added tax, transfer tax and other applicable taxes in their entirety in 2023.