The Directors are delighted with the performance of the Third Augusta Syndicate, the first German closed end fund in the series to exit.   With a 48% increase in share value, it has outperformed many other investments in the marketplace over the last five years.

Purchased in November 2005, both the assets of Third Augusta Syndicate, 5-7  and 9-10 Schöntrasse, have performed very well over the last five years.  Located directly opposite the Park-Klinik Weissensee, one of Berlin’s main private hospitals, this two-building medical centre has witnessed high demand for medical suites and traffic to its retail units (including pharmacy, café and beauty salon) has been high. 

The development of 9-10 Schönstrasse together with sustained tenant management in both properties has combined to produce the excellent share value results for the Third Augusta Syndicate.

The DeutschInvest Fund, the new fund under management by APS (Augusta Property Services), has made an independent offer to purchase the assets of the Third Augusta Syndicate.  APS Augusta Property Services is in the process of managing this sale to facilitate the exit of the investors from the Third Augusta Syndicate.

The Directors are delighted with the end of year property valuations for the German portfolio which have just been received from Bulwien Gesa (Independent Property Valuers).

Augusta’s on-going asset management work in our asset portfolio together with professional tenant management has ensured high levels of occupancy and rewarding property and share valuations.

Our most recent syndicate launched in 2010, Augusta Returns Plus, has received an uplift of almost 48% in the end of year property valuations, bringing the current property value to €4.5 million.   This property, purchased at a keen price, benefits from its ideal location.  It is situated on Kölnische Straβe 13-15 in Kassel and comprises 4,456m² of mainly bank and office space.  Kassel is a flourishing town situated in Hessen and our property is located 300 yards from the recognized A-location retail zone in Kassel.

Also there have been notable increases within the Sixth Augusta Syndicate.  Our property, Am Ziegenmarkt 3, is up by 7.6% on last year, a reflection of the extensive refurbishment work on this listed building.  Kröpeliner Straβe 10 is up by 6.6%.   We have replaced the previous ground floor tenant and have now signed a lease with Tiger, a recognised homeware retail outlet with over 100 outlets in Europe.  A combination of the increased covenant of this lease with the fact that the upper floors are now let as office space has contributed to this increase. 

The third building within the Sixth Augusta Syndicate, Kröpeliner Straβe 60, will shortly be undertaking a refurbishment of the ground floors.  Planning permission has been submitted to convert the upper floor to residential space.  This work (once complete) will contribute considerably to the overall valuations of the Sixth Augusta Syndicate.

The property valuations for the Fourth Augusta Syndicate are up by 6% on last year.  This is a reflection of the lease that has been signed with a new nursing home operator, Anderson Holding.  Anderson Holding has agreed to fully modernize Hohenlockstedt and expand the operation by 40 beds.   Planning permission is imminent and once secure will considerably contribute to share valuations in this syndicate.

Overall, The Directors are delighted with the property valuations increases which reflect the ongoing diligent asset management carried out by Augusta in combination with a continued confidence in the German commercial property market.

On an exciting growth and diversification agenda, Augusta is recruiting a Business Development Manager to drive new client acquisition from the private, intermediary and institutional markets. The role coincides with the launch by Augusta of a step-changing fund product and a new asset management expansion strategy.

For more information about the role please visit the careers section of our website, under the tab 'about us'.

We have moved...

Due to our growing team we have moved to new premises in Sandyford.

We have today sent written and email communication to all our investors and contacts informing them of the new address.

If you have not received this information already, please take note of our new contact details:

APS Augusta Property Services Ltd
Apex Business Centre
Blackthorn Rd
Sandyford
Dublin 18
Tel: (01) 2948614
Fax: (01) 4811842
www.augusta.ie

We are delighted to announce that we have now signed contracts confirming the purchase of a property in Kassel for the Augusta Returns Plus Syndicate.  The Augusta Returns Plus Syndicate is the 11th syndicate successfully launched by Augusta and the 4th in the income generating series.

We have negotiated a keen purchase price for this property which represents a yield of over 12%.  As a result of this competitive price, we are in a position to make annual payments in excess of the projected 5%, at approximately 7% per annum.

This property in comprised mainly of office space amounting to 4,456m² lettable area.  It is principally let to Deutsche Bank and KKH Allianz, a national health insurer.

The property is situated in Kassel which is a flourishing town located in Hessen in Western Central Germany with a population of 200,000.  The property is located on Kölnische Strasse which is 300 yards from the recognised A-location retail zone of Kassel and equidistant from the local commuter station.  Kölnische Strasse is also situated at the heart of the banking district.

More information and photographs of the property to follow.

German exports jumped in March to the highest monthly value on record, boosting growth in Europe’s biggest economy. The annual exports/imports were the highest since 1950.

Germany exported commodities to the value of €98.3bn and imported commodities to the value of € 79.4bn in March 2011.Destatis, Germany's federal statistics office said German exports increased by 15.8% and imports by 16.9% in March 2011 on March 2010. That was the highest monthly figure recorded for both exports and imports since the collection of foreign trade statistics had started in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1950. The former all-time high of exports, which amounted to €88.8bn, was observed in April 2008, that of imports in November 2010 (€74.1bn).

After calendar and seasonal adjustment, exports increased by 7.3% and imports by 3.1% in March 2011 compared with February 2011.  The foreign trade balance showed a surplus of €18.9bn in March 2011. In March 2010, the surplus amounted to €17.0bn. In calendar and seasonally adjusted terms, the foreign trade balance recorded a surplus of €15.2bn in March 2011.

According to provisional results from the Deutsche Bundesbank, the current account of the balance of payments showed a surplus of €19.5bn in March 2011, which included the balance of services (+€0.5bn), factor income net (+€4.9bn), current transfers (–€2.9bn), and supplementary trade items (–€1.9bn). In March 2010, the German current account showed a surplus of €18.8bn.

In March 2011, Germany shipped goods to the value of €58.8bn to the member countries of the European Union (EU), while it received commodities to the value of €51.3bn from those countries. Compared with March 2010, dispatches to the EU countries increased by 16.0% and arrivals from those countries by 21.1%. Commodities to the value of €39.7bn (+14.2%) were dispatched to the Eurozone countries in March 2011, while the value of the commodities received from those countries was €36.1bn (+20.8%). In March 2011, commodities to the value of € 19.1bn (+20.0%) were dispatched to EU countries not belonging to the Eurozone while the value of the commodities which arrived from those countries was € 15.2bn (+21.8%).

Exports of commodities to countries outside the European Union (third countries) amounted to €39.5bn in March 2011, while imports from those countries totalled €28.1bn. Compared with March 2010, exports to third countries increased by 15.4% and imports from those countries by 9.9%.

http://www.finfacts.ie/irishfinancenews/article_1022244.shtml

May 9th Finfacts Ireland

Tips for Augusta Investors LinkedIn Group 

Now that many of our investors have registered to our new Group I thought I might alert you to the fact that you have the ability to control how you want to receive information from the Group.

Once you have clicked on the group, you will see there are several tabs at the top - 'Discussions', 'Members', 'Promotions', 'Jobs', 'Search', 'Manage', 'More'

Go to the tab 'More'

Click on 'My settings'

Here you can control your visibility settings, contact details and update settings.  You can chose a specific email you would like to connect to your group discussions.  You can request an email for each new discussion.  You can allow either a daily or weekly digest of activity in your group.  You can allow /disallow other members of the group to send you emails.  

Augusta loves a good news story and there are too few of them around so here's one that is worth a read

Ireland has beaten Singapore to become the world's second most globalised nation, and the most globalised nation in the Western world according to Ernst and Young's Globalisation and the Changing World of Business report today.

It forecasts that Ireland will become the world's most globalised nation by the end of 2011, a position it will retain until at least 2014, replacing Hong Kong.

The report was released to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The current top ten most globalised nations now include (1) Hong Kong, (2) Ireland, (3) Singapore, (4) Denmark, (5) Switzerland, (6) Belgium, (7) Sweden, (8) Netherlands, (9) Hungary, (10) Finland. In 60th position, the least globalised nation on the index is Iran, closely followed by Algeria and Venezuela.

The index has five measurements to assess a country's individual global ranking including: its openness to global trade, global capital movements, global exchange of technology and ideas, global labour movements and cultural integration. Each of the criteria's weighting was validated by the 1,000 global business leaders surveyed.

The report finds that the increase in Ireland's score between 2009 and 2010 was mainly the result of greater movement of goods and services as a proportion of GDP. Total trade (exports plus imports) was around 197pc of Ireland's GDP in 2010, compared with 166pc of GDP for trade in 2009. Exports of chemicals have grown particularly strongly.

In addition to improving its overall globalisation ranking, Ireland achieved number one positions in two of the five categories measured; international exchange of technology and ideas - largely attributed to greater numbers of internet subscribers, and international exchange of labour. It was noted however, that Ireland's overall labour result fell in the last 12 months as a result of lower net migration (4.2 per 1,000 people in 2010 compared with 9.1 in 2009).

Ireland's overall globalization is forecast to improve steadily between 2010 and 2014 with the country taking the top position as a result of further increased movement of goods and services, with an estimate of trade rising to the equivalent of over 230pc of GDP in 2014. Cultural integration will also increase, with total tourism steadily rising from 3,400 per 1,000 of its population in 2010 to 3,600 in 2014.

Speaking on the Irish results, Mike McKerr, Managing Partner, Ireland, with Ernst & Young comments, "Although domestic economic conditions remain extremely challenging, we must continue to recognise that Ireland retains core strengths which are key to our recovery. Our nation's globalisation ranking demonstrates how well positioned Ireland is to maximise opportunities within international economies."

He adds, "The enormous opportunities for Ireland in emerging markets, the ever increasing power of the technology sector and a gradual international recovery will ensure that globalisation continues to deepen in Ireland over the coming years. It is also interesting to see the role of tourism, a more traditional business sector, helping to further enhance our position."

25th January 2011

http://www.businessworld.ie/livenews.htm?a=2721460

Augusta has just signed a purchase contract for a new supermarket in Bad Driburg, Germany which was purchased with spare funds in the Cash Faktor Syndicate.  This supermarket, located near Paderborn, is 1015m² and has a lease of 15 years.  It will most certainly add to the asset value of Cash Faktor which was incorporated in 2009 and is already performing very well.