Risk Management

Principles

Deutsche EuroShop’s strategy is geared towards maintaining and sustainably increasing shareholders’ assets as well as generating sustainably high surplus liquidity from leasing real estate, thereby ensuring that the shareholders can share in the success of the company over the long term through the distribution of a reasonable dividend. The focus of the risk management system is therefore on monitoring compliance with this strategy and, building on this, the identification and assessment of risks and opportunities as well as the fundamental decision on how to manage these risks. Risk management ensures that risks are identified at an early stage and can then be evaluated, communicated promptly and mitigated. Monitoring and management of the risks identified form the focal point of the internal control system, which at Group level is essentially the responsibility of the Executive Board. The internal control system is an integral part of the risk management system.

The auditor, within the framework of its legal mandate for auditing the annual financial statements, checks whether the early warning system for risks is suitable for detecting at an early stage any risks or developments that might endanger the Company.

Risk analysis involves the identification and analysis of factors that may jeopardise the achievement of objectives. The risk analysis process answers the question of how to deal with risks given ongoing changes in the environment, the legal framework and working conditions. The resulting control activities are to be embedded into processes that are essential to the realisation of business targets.

Key features

Under existing service contracts, the Executive Board of Deutsche EuroShop AG is continuously briefed about the business performance of individual property companies. Financial statements and financial control reports are submitted on a quarterly basis for each shopping center, with medium-term corporate plans submitted annually. The Executive Board regularly reviews and analyses these reports, using the following information in particular to assess the level of risk:

• Trends in accounts receivable
• Trends in occupancy rates
• Retail sales trends in the shopping centers
• Variance against projected income from the properties

• Pre-letting levels
• Construction status
• Budget status

Risks are identified by observing issues and changes that deviate from the original plans and budgets. The systematic analysis of economic data such as consumer confidence and retail sales trends is also incorporated into risk management. The activities of competitors are also monitored continually.

Source: Annual Report 2010, page 95-96