More customer service, better availability: Reorganisation of DAIG gets under way
- Customer service starts work
- 2008 financial year: Key metrics improved once again
Bochum, 26 May 2009 – Some seven months after the announcement, Deutsche Annington Immobilien GmbH (DAIG) is launching its improved customer service. In the weeks to come, the company will be gradually changing over to the new organisation. At the end of June, DAIG will then be working entirely with new processes and in a new structure.
The cornerstones of the new organisation are a customer service with one number for the whole of Germany to handle all inquiries from current and prospective tenants, a service centre for handling standard processes such as ancillary cost bills as well as a field service, which will focus entirely on providing local tenant services. The inside and field staff will be linked using the latest mobile communication technologies to ensure a fast and flexible customer service. This customer service will therefore be able to immediately access the relevant tenant and building data, which is now all stored in electronic form. The company has invested some 20 million euros in new IT alone. "With this new organisation, we hope to achieve considerably greater availability and faster solutions for our customers. We want to continue to improve the satisfaction of our customers," explains Wijnand Donkers, CEO of DAIG.
The concrete implementation of the plans began after negotiations with the works council were successfully completed at the end of April. It will probably be possible to keep the number of redundancies to below 20.
In recent weeks, DAIG has been making intensive preparations for the changeover to the new organisation: for example, with training courses, comprehensive testing, office conversion work and the scanning of some 50 million pages of paper for the electronic tenant files. Live tests on the new IT systems were conducted under realistic conditions. As the work processes will change for most DAIG employees, intensive training courses are still being held for the various fields of activity. All in all, it has taken some 30,000 hours to train the employees. 192 Astras were built at the Bochum Opel factory for the Deutsche Annington field service workers, who will now use them throughout Germany.
Core business of Deutsche Annington proves to be stable in the crisis
Deutsche Annington improved its key metrics in the last financial year: In 2008, DAIG recorded adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) of € 473.1 million, a rise of 2.8% over 2007 (€ 460.3 million). FFO (funds from operations) also increased again from € 190.1 million to € 207.1 million, corresponding to an 8.9 % rise. The Deutsche Annington Real Estate Group has therefore demonstrated its financial strength and its ability to generate sustained earnings. The company is expecting a stable development of business in 2009 in spite of the tense economic environment.
The same picture was reflected in the operational performance indicators: The vacancy rate fell again from 4.2% (2007) to 3.9%. Rents rose by 2.7%, the increase was therefore more or less in line with inflation (2.6%). On average, a Deutsche Annington apartment cost € 4.91 per square metre (2007: €4.78 per square metre).
Long-term financing secured until 2013
As part of securitisation performed in 2006, the interest rates were fixed until the end of the contract term in July 2013. This means that we are not exposed to any interest fluctuations up to that date. Our credit standing continues to be rated positively by the market: One indication of this is that DAIG signed new loan agreements for € 300 million in April 2008.
This press release was prepared by Deutsche Annington Immobilien GmbH and/or its subsidiaries (together "DAIG") for information purposes only.
This press release contains statements, estimates, opinions and projections about the expected future development of DAIG ("forward-looking statements"), which reflect various assumptions relating, for example, to results which have been derived from the latest DAIG business or from public sources which have not been subjected to an independent examination or assessed thoroughly by DAIG and which could later prove to be incorrect. These forward-looking statements reflect current expectations based on the present business plan and various other assumptions and therefore contain not insignificant risks and uncertainties. They should therefore not be understood as a guarantee for future performance or results and, moreover, do not necessarily constitute accurate indications that the expected results will also be achieved. These forward-looking statements only relate to the date when this press release was handed over to the recipients. It is up to the recipients of this press release to make their own more detailed evaluations of the informative value of the forward-looking statements and the assumptions on which they were based.
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Contact:
Deutsche Annington Real Estate Group
Katja Weisker
Telephone +49(0)234 314 – 1901
Mobile +49(0)174 9224995
