Germany's Vonovia posts narrower loss as writedowns continue

By Matthias Inverardi and Tom Sims

DUESSELDORF (Reuters) -Germany's largest real estate group, Vonovia, reported on Thursday a loss in the first half of the year, though narrower than a year earlier, as the nation's property sector continues to writhe amid its worst crisis in decades.

German property firms have been experiencing a major change of fortune after an end to the cheap money era that fuelled a decade-long boom.

Vonovia now forecasts the tide is turning after reporting last year its biggest annual loss ever, the second successive loss after years of steady profit.

The loss of 529 million euros ($573.01 million) in the six months compares with a loss of 4.13 billion euros in the period a year earlier, and it follows a writedown in the value of its apartments by 1.7% during the first half of the year.

Last month, Vonovia's chief executive flagged that its big loss-inducing writedowns were coming to an end, though the industry still faced risks.

"We are now confident and optimistic that values have bottomed out," CEO Rolf Buch told journalists on Thursday. "The market will see it that way too. Vonovia has left the crisis behind it."

Buch built Vonovia through a series of multi-billion-euro takeovers, resulting in a debt mountain as the property crisis struck, forcing it to sell swathes of homes.

Buch said he hoped to resume buying apartments after concluding a sales programme this year.

Vonovia forecast full-year profit guidance would be at the upper end of its targets, and shares rose 2.5% in early trade.

($1=0.9232 euros)

(Reporting by Matthias Inverardi and Tom Sims, Editing by Miranda Murray and Clarence Fernandez)