Property woes hit Italy's Aedes H1, finances weak

MILAN, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Italian property company Aedes (AEDI.MI) admitted its "rocky financial position" on Friday as it turned in a first-half net loss of 49.3 million euro ($74.77 million) in a real estate market it said had slumped.

It forecast a slightly higher full-year loss, provided it was able to complete certain disposals and said a plan to restore financial stability should be ready by October.

Aedes said its board was working on an agreement with creditor banks in order to avoid them taking action against it until Sept. 30, after the company missed due dates for the repayment of about 40 million euro worth of debt in the period.

Italy's property sector is suffering like many others from the ripple effect of a crisis in U.S. subprime mortgage lending. Aedes said in its statement that the slump on the domestic real estate market had prevented it from selling some assets.

Italy's economy failed to manage any growth in the second quarter over a year ago, official data showed on Friday, clouding the outlook for the rest of the continent.

Aedes said in a statement on Friday gross revenues fell 63 percent to 25.1 million euros. It had one-off accrual and impairment losses of 24.1 million euros.

The company said in June it needed to raise up to 200 million euros in fresh capital, warning 2008 results would be significantly worse than forecast due to the sharp slowdown in the real estate market.

It said its discussions with the Colony Fund over possible acquisitions of interest in investments held by Aedes were continuing, but not on the exclusive basis Colony had sought.

Aedes said it also planned to finalise the creation of a real estate investment trust (REIT) through its Nova Re (NR.MI) subsidiary in the second half of the year.

Aedes had a net profit of 15.9 million euros in the first half of 2007. (Reporting by Valentina Za)