Multiplan reported its first quarter 2016 financial results on April 27. Despite a difficult start of the year for sales and commerce in general, sales for the group's shopping center tenants were R$ 3.0 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 3.1% over the same period in 2015 to R$ 91.3 million. Same Area Sales were up 4.2% compared to the first quarter of 2015, which demonstrates the company's success in its efforts to improve the mix of stores in its malls.
In the first quarter of the year, rental revenue rose 6.7%, with Same Store Rentals up by 5.8% over the same period last year.
Occupancy rates were also consistent with the average of the last five quarters, 97.9%, showing a strong start in a challenging year. The first ten shopping centers opened by Multiplan had an average occupancy rate of 98.9%, reinforcing the idea that established shopping centers with high productivity are able to achieve and maintain high occupancy rates compared to the market average.
Despite the increase in the prime interest rate, net income showed an increase of 0.7% over the same period of the previous year, reaching R$ 70.1 million, due mainly to growth of 5.3% in net revenues, driven by increases in revenue from services (up 34.3%) and parking (up 9.4%). Over the last 12 months, net income was R$ 362.7 million, 2.1% higher than for the same period last year.
The net debt/EBITDA ratio declined slightly to 2.33x, due to the result of an increase in cash and liquid deposits to R$ 464.1 million. All of Multiplan's debt is in local currency (Reais).
The price of MULT3 on the BM&FBOVESPA rose 41.3% in 1Q16, priced at R$ 53.70 at the end of the quarter. The average daily trading volume was R$40.6 million during the period.
