ECO Business earnings soar up

Real estate company ECO Business-Immobilien AG (ECO Business) has managed to double its earnings.The firm, which has its headquarters in Vienna, said today (Tues) its earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) climbed from 12.4 million Euros in 2009 to 29.4 million Euros the next year. ECO Business added it made a profit of 9.1 million Euros last year after having suffered a loss of 6.9 million Euros in 2009.The company owned 57 premises with an overall floorspace of more than 511,000 square metres by the end of last year. Most properties are located in Austria (60 per cent) and Germany (31 per cent). ECO Business is also operating in several other countries across the continent.ECO Business explained it had no plans to start new development projects, adding it aimed to sell some of its estates. Austria and Germany will remain core markets of its operations, the company added.Viennese real estate management firm Conwert Immobilien Invest SE (Convert) acquired a 96 per cent interest in ECO Business last year.One ECO Business share on the Vienna Stock Exchange (WBAG) was worth 6.67 Euros at 11am today, while Convert stocks were traded at 11.65 Euros apiece.Conwert – which is engaged in buying and developing exclusive apartments in cities in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic – managed to increase its Ebit by 51 per cent to 110.7 million Euros from the first three quarters of 2009 to the same period of last year.