The Board of Directors of IGD SIIQ S.p.A., a retail real estate firm listed in the STAR segment of the Milan Stock Exchange, has reviewed figures for the third quarter of 2008.

IGD SIIQ S.p.A. closed the first nine months of the year with a dramatic upswing in revenues and operating performance, confirming the wisdom of its more recent investments.

Consolidated revenues came to €73.14 million, up from €54.55 million for the same period in 2007 (+34.08%). Growth was driven by rental income, which rose by 37.95% to €55.46 million, thanks especially to the May 2008 acquisition of the Romanian Winmarkt chain (contributing €8.34 million) and to the full-year results of the Mondovì and Rovereto properties (Mondovicino and Millennium Gallery) that were purchased in 2007. Service income also improved considerably, from €2.09 million for the period to 30 September 2007 to €3.14 million this year, with a sizable increase in the recurring part of this business—facility management—thanks to the acquisition of new contracts.

EBITDAstood at €45.06 million, an increase of 29.96% on the first nine months of 2007. EBITDA amounted to 61.61% of total revenues, or 67.32% of operating revenues (i.e. revenues net of income from rebilling), which marks a 0.75-point increase on the figure for the first three quarters of 2007 (66.80%).

Good operating performance is demonstrated by a rise inFFO(EBITDA less net financial expense), which grew from €24.23 million for the period to September 2007 to €26.37 million in 9M 2008. The improvement of 8.81% was achieved despite an €8.25 million increase in net financial expense, due to rising interest rates and greater overall debt.

The net profit came to €41.08 million, compared with €28.70 million the previous year (+43.17%). Some of the increase is explained by the recovery of deferred tax liabilities on increased property values due to the company’s conversion to SIIQ (REIT) status.

Net debt, at €642.10 million, compares with €604.99 million at 30 June 2008; the gearing ratio (debt to equity) therefore rose from 0.81x at the end of June to 0.86x, which is well below the limits of 2x and 2.3x provided for in the group’s long-term loan covenants.

Comments IGD CEO Filippo-Maria Carbonari, “Results for the first nine months of 2008 confirm the acumen and good timing of our investment decisions. Our rapid growth withinItalyand our international expansion, which we have launched with a large-scale and immediately profitable transaction, are now generating substantial first-line growth in earnings and profitability.”

“Next year,” Carbonari adds, “our results will benefit not only from our larger portfolio, but from the leases we have renegotiated in recent months at several malls. Even in our 2009 accounts, we expect to see further tangible improvements from the remodeling and renovation projects in which much of our portfolio is involved.”