BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - A slump in private real estate financing hit financial services provider Hypoport hard in the past quarter. Due to the surprisingly weak performance of the real estate segment, the SDax company is now taking a more pessimistic view of the current year. The profit warning did not mean anything positive for Hypoport's shares on Tuesday morning. It slipped 14.4 percent to 162.50 euros in early trading.

This means that the positive trend so far this year has come to an end for the time being. Hypoport's share price had tended to rise significantly since the turn of the year. Despite the price slump on Tuesday, the shares have gained around two thirds since the beginning of the year. Shareholders with an investment horizon of one year must, however, come to terms with a loss in value of a good fifth.

As Hypoport announced late Monday evening in Berlin, sales are likely to fall by up to 15 percent. In the previous year, the group had still reported 455.5 million euros in revenue. Earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) are expected to reach at least 10 million euros after 24.7 million in the previous year. In the worst-case scenario, this corresponds to a decline of almost 60 percent. However, the new forecast only applies if the still subdued market development in private real estate financing picks up slightly.

The lack of demand resulting from the rise in interest rates had a significant impact on Hypoport in the second quarter. Compared with the same period a year earlier, revenue slumped by almost a third to 85 million euros. EBIT slipped from plus 13 to minus 2.5 million euros into the red.

While the credit and insurance segments reported a slightly positive development, the decline was mainly due to the "real estate platform" segment. Hypoport bundles all its real estate-related activities in this segment. In addition to a weakening valuation volume, the financing volume for the institutional housing industry also caused problems for the Group.

As recently as mid-July, management had seen initial signs of stabilization. Hypoport CEO Ronald Slabke remained "rationally optimistic" about further developments in the current year. Although there was no question of a rapid recovery in the mortgage market, he said, it was evident "that the market had initially stabilized at a low level and that we were gaining further market share." However, Hypoport had already suffered a slump in earnings at the start of the year due to the real estate slump.

The Management Board plans to publish detailed figures for the first half of the year on August 14./ngu/mne/nas