FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - A capital increase put a damper on the recovery of the shares of financial services provider Hypoport in after-hours trading on Thursday. The securities fell on the trading platform Tradegate compared to the Xetra close by about five percent to 139.00 euros. With the issue of new shares, the company, which is listed in the small cap index SDax, intends to raise around 50 million euros gross. This corresponds to a good five percent of the market capitalization of around 950 million euros at the Xetra closing.

The money will reportedly be used to take advantage of "the extraordinary growth opportunities in the current phase of market upheaval in real estate financing." In 2022, for example, the sector had come under pressure as real estate transactions slumped due to rising interest rates. Potential apartment and house buyers held back because prices were too high for them in view of increased financing costs. At the end of September 2022, Hypoport conceded its annual targets due to the slump in the real estate market and announced cost-cutting measures.

The share price then came under even greater pressure and fell to 72.55 euros - the last time the shares cost less than this was in 2016. Since then, the share price has doubled, but the loss since the record high of 618 euros at the beginning of 2021 amounts to almost four-fifths after Thursday's post-market slide.

However, analyst Simon Keller of Hauck Aufhäuser Investment Banking was fundamentally more optimistic in a recent study and sees a turnaround at Hypoport. The transaction volumes had stabilized, so that the low point had probably been reached. He also praised the cost-cutting measures. The company should emerge from the crisis leaner, more focused and more profitable, while also increasing its market share. Keller therefore upgraded the shares by two steps from "sell" to "buy"./mis/edh