IC Immobilien Gruppe has completed its turnaround
An article from Immobilien Zeitung No. 10/2020.
Author: Lars Wiederhold
The CEO of IC Immobilien Gruppe, Markus Reinert, has achieved the target he set back in 2018: the 2019 financial year saw the group bounce back into the black for the first time in years. Reinert sees a range of growth opportunities for the future, including in the management of healthcare properties.
In recent years, IC has shed a lot of ballast. “We consistently terminated unprofitable contracts”, reports Reinert, who joined the company in 2015. This strategy was combined with a strong focus on growth customers. And it worked. The group’s operating result, which in 2015 was still in the red to the tune of EUR 11 million, gradually and steadily improved until it reached positive territory in 2019.
Over the past two years, sales have increased by about 10% a year. “This is the same rate at which we expect to grow over the next three years”, reveals Reinert. Property and asset management contribute about two thirds of the group’s revenues. The remainder is generated by real estate-related services, such as investment and letting management, as well as project management and the group’s fund business.
“And we want to maintain those proportions”, explains Reinert. The group’s roster of clients now includes BNP Paribas Investment Management, Fidelity International, Tristan, Wealthcap, Meag, HanseMerkur, Takenaka Europe, Bain Capital, Amundi, Shaftesbury and Württembergische Versicherung.
Alongside the asset classes more traditionally associated with IC – office, retail and, to a lesser extent, logistics – the group is increasingly focusing on hotel and healthcare assets. Most recently, Icade Healthcare Europe appointed the real estate service provider to manage 21 nursing homes across Germany. IC has also expanded its healthcare sector team and is targeting further growth. “You have to understand healthcare in all its facets, which requires special skills”, emphasises Reinert. Including a joint venture with IPH, the company’s total workforce has now reached 275 employees. However, according to Reinert, the company is moving steadily towards 300 employees.
Last year, Reinert also handed over management of the subsidiary, IC Property Management (PM), to Sabine Giesen-Kirchhofer, Michael Greis and Karsten Körper, having previously managed the subsidiary together with Lars Drewes. Giesen-Kirchhofer is now responsible for commercial property management and Greis for technical property management. Körper’s responsibilities include accounting and financial reporting.
Reinert is also weighing up several potential acquisitions and finalising plans to expand the group’s cross-border operations. In order to satisfy requests from numerous clients, the service provider is about to announce a strategic partnership with a large partner outside Germany. This partnership will see IC managing properties in Germany and the new partner managing non-German assets. Over the years, IC has served a large number of international clients, but has previously been limited to managing German real estate portfolios. The group’s assets under management have now grown to a total of around EUR 11 billion.
In terms of software, IC uses the iRES+ specialised property management platform to process technical contract data, supplemented by the more traditional management of commercial data via SAP. “Demand for specialised software solutions is as high among investors as it is in any other area of business”, reports Reinert. iRES+ can be used to manage CAPEX and technical management services, thereby raising a property’s achievable investment yield. “As with commercial reporting, the data is easy to transfer to our customers’ own systems”, explains Reinert.
