Phoenix Spree Deutschland 2025 results: first cash return finally arrives
Phoenix Spree Deutschland has finally turned strategy into something shareholders can actually feel in their accounts: cash back. The company is returning an aggregate of £17.5 million to investors through a compulsory redemption of shares at £2.56 per share, which is the first capital return under its portfolio realisation plan.
That matters because this is no longer a “wait for the Berlin market to recover” story. It is now a “sell flats, reduce debt, return surplus cash” story. For retail investors, that shift makes the investment case much more concrete.
| Key figure | 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Gross rental income | €22.7 million | €28.1 million |
| Loss before tax | €13.6 million | €39.5 million |
| Portfolio valuation | €540.1 million | €552.8 million |
| IFRS NAV per share | €2.94 / £2.56 | €3.01 / £2.49 |
| EPRA NTA per share | €3.40 / £2.97 | €3.55 / £2.93 |
| Net loan-to-value | 41.0% | 40.3% |
| Condominium sales notarised | €36.0 million | €9.4 million |
Phoenix Spree capital return: what the £17.5 million payout actually means
The return will happen via a pro rata compulsory redemption, which means all shareholders have some shares automatically redeemed in proportion to their holding. In plain English, the company is shrinking itself and handing back part of the proceeds.
The redemption price is £2.56 per share. That is notable because it matches the reported IFRS NAV per share at year-end. IFRS NAV is the company’s net asset value under accounting rules, including more of the real-world disposal costs and tax impacts that matter in a wind-down.
That is why this announcement feels important. Phoenix Spree is signalling that the asset sales are not just theoretical value on paper – they are starting to convert into distributable cash.
The board says it aims to make two returns of capital per year, subject to sales progress, debt repayment, tax, costs and prudent cash balances. That is encouraging, but investors should not treat it as guaranteed income. The company is very clear that future returns will be variable.
Phoenix Spree condominium sales beat target and validate the strategy
The standout operational number is the €36.0 million of condominium sales notarised in 2025, ahead of the company’s €30 million target and sharply above €9.4 million in 2024. “Notarised” in Germany means legally signed off, so these are serious sales rather than vague pipeline claims.
Even better, pricing held up. Average achieved pricing before disposal costs was at a 4.1% premium to the most recent valuation before sale. That is exactly the sort of evidence you want if management is arguing that selling individual flats beats selling whole rented blocks.
- 122 units notarised in 2025 for €36.0 million
- Average sales price of €4,132 per sqm
- Vacant units sold at €4,585 per sqm, an 18.6% premium to carrying values
- Occupied units sold at €3,909 per sqm, a 2.8% discount to carrying values
That last point is worth pausing on. Vacant flats are the gold standard here because they attract owner-occupiers and stronger pricing. Occupied flats still sell, but they come with tenant protections and therefore weaker economics.
Since the year-end, the company has already notarised a further 56 units for €16.5 million, with another 35 units worth €10.3 million under reservation. Against a 2026 target of at least €55 million of notarisations, that is a good start.
Berlin residential valuation stabilisation gives Phoenix Spree a better backdrop
The total portfolio value slipped to €540.1 million from €552.8 million, so the headline balance sheet still went backwards. But that does not tell the full story because the company has been selling assets.
On a like-for-like basis, adjusted for disposals, valuation per square metre rose 1.5%. That is a useful sign that the Berlin market may be stabilising after a painful reset.
- Condominium Sales Portfolio value per sqm: €4,191, up 3.1% like-for-like
- PRS portfolio value per sqm: €3,288, up 0.8% like-for-like
PRS means Private Rental Sector – the blocks held mainly for rent rather than split and sold unit by unit. The important takeaway is that condominiums still command a clear premium over PRS valuations, and that pricing gap is the whole logic behind the company’s sell-down plan.
Phoenix Spree refinancing removes a major obstacle to shareholder distributions
Another big positive was the refinancing completed in November 2025. The company replaced its old borrowing structure with a new €255 million, five-year, interest-only facility.
Why does that matter? Because the old debt arrangements limited how many condominiums could be sold and restricted shareholder distributions. The new facility removes those restrictions and gives the company more room to execute its strategy properly.
Net debt ended the year at €222.0 million, little changed from €223.1 million. Net loan-to-value edged up to 41.0% from 40.3%, so leverage is still meaningful, but the maturity profile is much better and the refinancing risk has been pushed out.
In short, the balance sheet is no longer the main problem. Execution is.
What still looks weak in Phoenix Spree’s 2025 results
This was not a clean set of numbers. Gross rental income fell to €22.7 million from €28.1 million, and both IFRS NAV and EPRA NTA per share declined in euro terms.
Some of that is deliberate. When the company sells flats and does not re-let empty ones, rental income naturally shrinks. But investors still need to accept that this is a contracting business, not a growing one.
There are a few pressure points worth watching:
- IFRS vacancy rose to 11.8% from 8.0%
- EPRA vacancy rose to 4.1% from 1.5%
- Portfolio valuation fell in absolute terms
- Occupied unit sales were below asset carrying value
- Capital returns depend on sale proceeds, tax, debt paydown and covenant headroom
The company also still traded at a big discount to its assets at 31 December 2025. The share price discount to IFRS NAV was 28.6%, while the discount to EPRA NTA was 43.2%. That tells you the market still wants proof, not promises.
My view on Phoenix Spree Deutschland shares after the 2025 RNS
This update looks more positive than the headline loss and falling rental income might suggest. The company beat its sales target, sold vacant units at strong premiums, stabilised valuations, fixed the debt structure and announced a real cash return.
That is solid progress. More importantly, it supports the argument that Phoenix Spree can unlock more value through individual flat sales than through a wholesale disposal of rented blocks.
The catch is that this remains an execution story. If sales slow, if pricing softens, or if costs and taxes eat more of the proceeds than hoped, future capital returns could disappoint. Management has improved the setup, but it still needs to deliver quarter after quarter.
What Phoenix Spree investors should watch in 2026
- Whether the company reaches its at least €55 million 2026 sales target
- How much of those sales come from higher-margin vacant units
- Whether costs and capital expenditure fall materially as promised
- How quickly further capital returns are announced
- Whether the discount to NAV starts to narrow as cash comes back to shareholders
My bottom line: this was a meaningful step forward. Phoenix Spree has moved from talking about value realisation to actually doing it, and for a discounted property stock, that is exactly what shareholders needed to see.
