LEG Immobilien AG recorded an increase in its funds from operations I and raised its forecasts for 2017 and 2018.

The company's FFO I for the first half came in at €148.8 million, marking an 8.1% year-over-year increase from €137.6 million in the year-ago period.

FFO I per share climbed 7.8% year over year to €2.36.

The company said it has acquired about 2,100 residential units in high-growth core markets so far in the present financial year, and is in the process of acquiring additional small and medium-sized portfolios. The acquired properties have a temporarily high vacancy rate of 20% due to modernization efforts. The acquisition of the units is expected to contribute to the 2017 full-year earnings and have a full effect in 2018.

Consequently, the company raised its forecast for FFO I in the range of €290 million to €295 million, from the previous range of between €288 million and €293 million. For 2018, the company expects full-year FFO I to range between €315 million and €323 million, up from the previous expected range of between €310 million and €316 million.

LEG Immobilien noted that a further increase in FFO I outlooks can be expected if additional acquisitions are successful.