Blackrock to focus on assets and costs
Due to the bad year, very little investment was undertaken in its core markets of Britain and Ireland, he said.
And the “primary focus was on asset management and cost reduction.”
The decline in economic activity driven by the difficulties in the credit markets led to decreased investor and occupational demand.
That led to a decline in investment yields and a significant write-down in assets over the year, he said.
Gross assets in the group fell from €439.7 million on January 1, 2008 to just over €340m by year end.
Overall, despite the current uncertain climate, Mr McCann said the group benefited from a good tenant base and was “pleased to report that no defaults have arisen among those who have leases with the group”.
The value of the group’s Irish investments fell from €210m to €177m while its British investments were down from €137m to €75.9m. Mainland European operations declined from €91.6m to €87m.
