Unibail set for post merger earnings jump

By Juliette Rouillon

LONDON (Reuters) - Europe's newly-merged biggest listed property group Unibail Rodamco (UNBP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is set for a major increase in net rental income, Unibail's former chief executive Leon Bressler said.

"It has a huge potential for increasing it's operating income ... Net rental income will substantially improve in the next five years," said Bressler, who is currently a partner at financial services firm Perella Weinberg Partners.

He was speaking at the Reuters Real Estate Summit in London.

Bressler spent 14 years at the head of Unibail and advised the French property group on its merger with Dutch peer Rodamco Europe RDMB.AS.

The new company will have a combined market capitalization of roughly $30 billion, ahead of the stock market value of British companies Land Securities Plc (LAND.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and British Land (BLND.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

"The point is not to be a champion. I'm not fanatic about national champions, European champions. but it's a great company," said Bressler.

"It's a great European company and it's great also for investors. It's the natural vehicle for non European investors in European real-estate."

Bressler added that the Unibail/Rodamco merger did not necessarily herald a wave of other large-scale mergers in the European property sector.

"It is a sector in which concentration is not necessary ... In a lot of cases, mergers do not create value."