(Comparative period specified in 2nd paragraph)

BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The financial services provider Hypoport expects a recovery in 2024 following the slump in real estate lending. "Depending on the further normalization of the private real estate financing market over the course of the year," the company expects double-digit percentage

double-digit percentage growth in turnover to at least 400 million euros, the company announced on Wednesday when presenting its preliminary figures for 2023. Last year, revenue fell by a good fifth to 360 million euros, which is in line with the company's forecast, which was lowered in the fall. Earnings before interest and taxes are expected to remain between 10 and 20 million euros in the current year, following a 45% decline in operating profit to around 13 million euros last year. The share price rose on the news.

The bottom line is likely to be €20 million more than in 2022 due to one-off tax effects. More details will be available on March 11.

Hypoport had already announced in January that the recent fall in interest rates, slightly lower real estate prices and rising rents should motivate more families to buy residential property. This trend is likely to continue in the current year. In the months from October to December, Hypoport's Europace platform brokered a larger volume of building loans, installment loans and home loan and savings contracts than in the same period last year for the first time since the start of the crisis./mis/stk