Tag: profitability

Madrid Nuevo Norte’s New Offices will be Home to 125,000+ Employees

22 October 2018 – Eje Prime

Madrid Nuevo Norte, the focus of the recently announced new homes, is also going to be home to a business centre. Offices are going to be built in the financial epicentre of the Spanish capital to house 125,472 employees in total. Moreover, the district is going to be home to the tallest building in Spain, with up to seventy floors.

The project is going to house the Chamartín Business Centre, where almost all of the properties for businesses are going to be located. They will house two thirds of the 1.5 million m2 that are going to be dedicated to offices in Madrid Nuevo Norte, according to reports from Cinco Días.

The volume of business in terms of office development will exceed €10 billion; in the case of house building, that figure will reach €3.0 billion. The project’s economic report shows a range of profitability from the real estate business in the new district of between 11.2% and 16.4%.

After several adjustments, Madrid Nuevo Norte has decreased its total buildability by 21%, down from 3.37 million m2 per the initial plan to 2.66 million m2. Similarly, the district has been divided into four areas: Chamartín station, the business district, Fuencarral-San Roque-Tres Olivos and Fuencarral-Las Tablas. Each one will have its own timetable and urbanisation costs.

The project is going to be financed almost in its entirety by the landowners, which will disburse an average of €1.2 billion. With the aim of covering the urbanisation costs, the Town Hall of Madrid will spend €307.89 million, which will be added to €24.78 million from the Community of Madrid and €220.49 million from Adif, the concessionaire of the rights.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

CaixaBank Will Save €550M Over the Next 3 Years from the Sale of its Real Estate

27 July 2018 – La Vanguardia

CaixaBank estimates that the sale of 80% of its real estate business to the US fund Lone Star will result in a cost saving worth €550 million over the next three years, from 2019 to 2021.

On 28 June 2018, CaixaBank announced that it had reached an agreement with Lone Star to sell it a portfolio of foreclosed assets comprising real estate assets available for sale as at 31 October 2017 and the real estate company Servihabitat, worth around €7 billion in total.

The CEO of CaixaBank, Gonzalo Gortázar (pictured above), highlighted today that the operation, which is expected to be closed at the end of this year or the beginning of next year, will allow the entity to clean up its balance sheet of the foreclosed assets accumulated during the years of the crisis and to improve profitability.

“We have managed to reduce the volume of harmful assets sooner than we had expected, before the new strategic plan comes into effect” for the period 2019-2021 that CaixaBank plans to present in November, according to Gortázar.

The director added that the operation with Lone Star will not generate “a significant result” for CaixaBank, although it will allow it to increase its future profitability, thanks to cost savings of around €550 million over the next three years, given that having real estate assets on its balance sheet has an associated operating cost.

The completion of this sale will result in the deconsolidation of CaixaBank’s real estate business, which will make it “the bank with one of the most healthy balance sheets in the Spanish market”, he said.

Original story: La Vanguardia

Translation: Carmel Drake

Gesvalt: House Prices Will Grow by 5%-7% in Spain in 2018

15 June 2018 – Eje Prime

Gesvalt predicts that house prices will continue to rise this year. According to Sandra Daza, the Director General of the company, the price of residential properties in Spain will grow by between 5% and 7% this year in the main cities across the country. “We are not laying the foundations for a new real estate bubble, sales are going to continue to grow and prices will maintain their upward trend”, explained the executive in the framework of Inmonext.

The surveyor explained that, in 2017, “more than half a million homes were sold, the economy grew by more than the European average, minimum interest rates continued to encourage the diversification of investment portfolios and last year, €14 billion was invested in property, up by 45% compared to a year earlier”. “We can say, without fear of being wrong, that Spain is an interesting market for investment”, she said at the event organised by Idealista.

Although she acknowledged that the lack of political stability is affecting the sector, she also argued that the appetite from investors for domestic assets is still very high.

In some sectors, such as offices, there is a lack of high-quality products, whilst in other sectors, such as shopping centres and logistics, there are opportunities. She regards the latter as “the sweetheart of the market”.

Daza, who also agrees with other industry experts on the need for the Administration to put more land on the market, also sees “clear potential” for alternative assets (student halls of residence, nursing homes), whose main features are their high profitability and support from demographic factors.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Servihabitat: Rental Yields Now Exceed 10% in Madrid, Cataluña, Balearic & Canary Islands

18 December 2017 – Expansión

“The Spanish residential market has been showing clear signs of recovery in 2017 and all indications are that the rate of growth will be even higher in 2018. The number of house sales will rise by 16.9% this year, to exceed 472,000 operations, and by another 18.3% next year, which means that we will see the sale of almost 560,000 units”. In this way, Servihabitat summarises the trend in the residential sector, which is enjoying a sweet moment.

The key factors contributing to the boost in demand include: the growth of the number of solvent buyers; policies by financial institutions to grant more loans; the progress in terms of the construction of new homes; and the increase in investor interest – in the case of holiday homes, investors now account for 19% of all operations.

This last aspect is fundamental for understanding the boom in the most consolidated areas of Spain. According to data from Servihabitat, the average annual yield from buying a home to let is 10%: 5.5% from the gross rental yield and 4.5% from the appreciation in the property value over 12 months, which the real estate servicer calculates in its forecasts at the end of 2017.

This data tallies with the 9.8% calculated by the Bank of Spain. The difference is that Servihabitat breaks down the yield by region and province. The regions in which it is more profitable to acquire a home to let are: the Community of Madrid, (13.3% gross p.a.), Cataluña (13.1%), the Balearic Islands (11.4%) and the Canary Islands (10.8%).

They are the only four regions where yields exceed the national average, which gives us an idea of the importance that the two largest cities and residential investment along the coast play in the overall calculation for the Spanish market. It comes as no surprise that the most profitable provinces are: Barcelona (13.7%), Madrid (13.3%), Las Palmas (12.4%), the Balearic Islands (11.4%), Málaga (10.1%) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (9.5%). In other words, the six largest real estate markets in Spain (together with Alicante), where demand from overseas buyers is boosting the sector and the cranes are back on the horizon. Overseas buyers now account for 17.4% of all purchases or one in six. That percentage rises to 47.6% in the case of Alicante, 40.8% in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 33.7% in the Balearic Islands, 32.8% in Girona, 31.4% in Málaga and 22.6% in Las Palmas.

They are clearly the “hot” areas of the real estate sector, but they are not the only ones to be offering high returns. Other examples include: Salamanca (8.4%), Guadalajara (7.8%), Murcia (7.7%), Cantabria (7.6%), Valladolid (7.5%) and Lleida (7.5%), amongst others. This positive trend will become even more marked in 2018 (…).

In the Catalan capital, yields in the district of Sants-Montjuic are off the scale, with an average gross annual return of no less than 32.9% (5.3% from the rental yield and 27.6% from an appreciation in property prices). It is followed by Eixample (26.8%), Gràcia (25.9%), Sant Martí (25.6%), Horta-Guinardó (24.9%) and Nou Barris (21%). The centre (Ciutat Vella) yields 19%, and the exclusive district of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi 13.2%

In Madrid, yields in the Centre amount to almost 20% (19.7%), followed by Salamanca (19.2%) and Chamberí (18.8%) (…).

Despite this inflation in prices and yields, “there is no risk of a bubble in either city”, according to Cabanillas. “The problem is not speculative; the price rises are resulting from the pressure in terms of demand for the use of second homes and tourist accommodation. The risk is that gentrification will force young people out of city centres, but there is no risk of over-financing”, says the CEO of Servihabitat.

Original story: Expansión (by Juanma Lamet)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Banco Santander Puts Hotel Koral up for Auction

6 December 2017 – Levante EMV

Banco Santander has put Hotel Koral, located on the beachfront in Oropesa del Mar, up for auction for €7 million. The establishment has 210 rooms and a swimming pool. The auction is open until 11 December.

The bank took ownership of the property as the result of a debt that it had granted to the previous owners, amounting to €2,127,677. Moreover, the property has another charge over it in the form of an unpaid loan amounting to €700,000 from Cajamar, according to sources close to the operation. The investor that offers the highest bid will acquire the property free of charges. All of the information about the bid is available on the BOE’s auction website.

The electronic auction opened on 21 November. The value of the auction is €7,082,465 and interested parties must pay a deposit of €354,123. According to information provided yesterday on the BOE’s auction website, no bid has yet been formalised for the property.

The building is located on the new promenade in the Tosalet de Oropesa area. The hotel is a ten-minute walk from the centre of Oropesa. The establishment offers 210 rooms with views of the sea or the pool, which is located in a garden area with sun beds and parasols.

The bank has put the property on the market at a time when there is a great deal of investor interest in hotels. Hotel profitability has grown by 32.5% in Valencia due to the strength of international tourism and the recovery in domestic consumption, according to a report by the consultancy firms STR and Magma Hospitality Consulting.

The growth in hotel profitability in the Community of Valencia is much higher than in Madrid (18.6 %), Málaga (15.38 %), Barcelona (14.6%), Marbella (14.5 %) or Sevilla (14.4 %). The strong performance in terms of profitability is being seen despite competition from tourist apartments, which are being marketed through online platforms such as Airbnb.

The barometer from STR and Magma HC is based on data from 145,000 rooms in more than 800 hotels located all over Spain. Data corresponding to the first half of 2017 shows a very positive trend with double-digit growth for the main indicators in key destinations and a general upward trend in terms of average revenues per available room (RevPAR) and in the average price per occupied room.

The good context for divesting has led other banks to follow the same path. Banco Sabadell has just sold its hotel manager HI Partners for €0.63 billion to the US fund Blackstone. That operation included a portfolio of fourteen hotels worth almost €0.7 billion, including the Abba Acteón in València and the Melià Villaitana in Benidorm (…).

Original story: Levante EMV (by Ramón Ferrando)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Insurers’ Interest In Real Estate Investments Rebounds

10 November 2017 – Grupo Aseguranza

Needs must. That is the main reason that has led – indeed, almost forced – Spain’s insurance companies to look at real estate assets as another, better alternative to achieving additional returns, which are not currently being generated in the financial markets (…).

The second reason that has caused the insurance sector to focus more intently on investment in the real estate sector has been the recovery of the rental market, primarily the office segment, which is where the majority of investments from the insurance sector are targeted (…).

The third reason for the increase in real estate investments stems from the Solvency II regulations. According to this regulation, properties require a provision equivalent to 25% of their appraisal value for capital consumption purposes, which is below those required for other formulae such as variable income, which need almost 50%.

More in Madrid than Barcelona

These 3 reasons have served as fuel to boost investment by insurance companies in properties. (…) In this sense, the stock of properties, measured in square metres, increased by 2.8% during 2016, from 3 million m2 in 2015 to 3.27 million m2 in December 2016. The growth in Madrid amounted to 7.5%, whilst in Barcelona, the figure decreased by 0.3%; in the rest of Spain, it increased by 0.4%.

According to data from ICEA, the Spanish insurance companies hold €287,000 million in their investment portfolio: of those, 3 out of every 4 euros are invested in fixed income and 3.7% is invested in property.

2017 will depend on the buffer required

Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, the ICEA’s external collaborator, in conversation with Aseguranza, highlighted that the increase in real estate investments this year will depend to a large extent on the capital buffer that the insurance companies need to have. The economic conditions are ripe, but the insurance sector is always conservative. The only numerical reference is the survey performed for the report “Real estate investments in the Spanish insurance sector. Data as at 2016”, which shows that only 7% of companies are considering divesting their properties, whilst almost 40% are planning to increase this kind of investment.

The report also asks how the entities are planning to undertake these new property purchases: more than half of them, 52%, are inclined to invest directly, compared to 12% who would do so indirectly, in other words, through investment vehicles. The remaining 36% would combine both methods (…).

Returns of 3%

Another fact that the report measures is the annual operating return on the appraisal value that insurance companies can expect to obtain from their real estate. On average, the figure amounts to 2.9%, with the highest yield being reported in Barcelona (+3.4%), compared to Madrid and the rest of Spain (+2.8%).

By type of property, the highest returns for insurance companies are generated by parking spaces (+4.5%), followed by commercial properties (+4%), offices (+2.8%) and homes (0.1%).

Along with profitability, appraisal values also rose in 2016, by 1.7% per m2. They grew by 1.3% more in Barcelona than in Madrid. Similarly, the vacancy rate stood at 18.8%, almost the same as in 2015. Meanwhile, the average rental income on properties owned by insurance companies rose by 0.3% to reach €12.27/m2/month. In Madrid, rents cost €18.60/m2/month and in Barcelona €12.80/m2/month.

Original story: Grupo Aseguranza (by Manuel Chicote)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Inv’t In Industrial & Logistics Land In Valencia Already Exceeds 2016 Total

30 October 2017 – El Economista

Demand for industrial and logistics land is growing fast in the province of Valencia. Sale and purchase operations involving this type of land have already exceeded the total volume of space (in square metres) sold during 2016 as a whole, by 30% at least, when operations spanning 585,000 m2 of space were signed – 130% more than during the previous year.

Information from specialist consultants and other data provided by public managers indicates that more than 750,000 m2 of land has been acquired, with a significant percentage of the operations being closed in Ribaroja, Cheste and Sagunto –almost half of the square metres purchased are located in Parc Sagunt, which has experienced a boom since the arrival, in December, of Mercadona, which plans to construct its largest logistics platform there (…).

This increase in demand comes in response to a combination of factors, including: the consolidation of the economic recovery, supported both by internal demand and the export of products and services, which has boosted projects to expand production capacity and storage by industrial groups; the positive outlook for the next few years; improvements in terms of the access to and conditions of financing; projects to improve the communications network – above all, the railways; the growing interest from investors – corporate and institutional, in particular – looking for options to generate higher returns than those found in the financial and securities markets; and the growing demand for modern, high-quality, large assets, in good locations, which have been underserved in recent years due to the total stoppage of new development projects in this field, as a result of the economic crisis (…).

Aguirre Newman adds another element that has benefitted the Valencian market: “The shortage of supply in the main markets in Spain – Madrid and Barcelona – has boosted interest in secondary markets, in particular, in Zaragoza, Valencia and Sevilla”. And this trend could be reinforced in the coming months due to the instability in Cataluña, which is leading to the departure of companies and the suspension of investments.

This confluence of factors has contributed to an increase in the presence of investment funds, Socimis and specialist property developers as the main players participating in sale and purchase operations, above all in the last year and a half (…).

In terms of rental prices, in the prime areas of Valencia, maximums amount to €4.25/m2/month in the Centre Axis of Ribaroja, whilst in the Southern Axis (…), rents have stabilised at €4/m2/month.

In terms of the profitability of logistics rental spaces, whilst in Madrid and Barcelona, yields amount to between 5% and 6%, in the areas with the highest demand in the Community of Madrid, they range between 7% and 9%, according to the consultants (…).

Meanwhile, the Port Authority of Valencia (APV) expects that the Logistics Activity Area (ZAL) will become operational during the first half of 2018, after two decades of delays (…).

Original story: El Economista (by Olivia Fontanillo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Fitch: Banks Will Continue To Discount Their Foreclosed Assets For 2+ Years

24 October 2017 – Expansión

Fitch report / Financial institutions are selling their real estate portfolios at discounts of between 50% and 70%; those levels are expected to be maintained for at least the next two years.

“We do not expect to see a close correlation between the improvement in the macroeconomic situation and lower discounts on the sale of portfolios of foreclosed real estate assets by the banks. In fact, we expect those discounts to remain at their current levels for at least the next two years”, said Alberto Faraco and Juan David García, analysts at the ratings agency Fitch.

Spain’s banks still hold significant volumes of real estate, inherited from the crisis, which they must get rid of by order of the supervisor. To accelerate the process, entities are selling portfolios of foreclosed real estate assets to international funds and, in exchange, they are demanding significant discounts with respect to the initial value of the properties.

According to Fitch, these discounts amount to between 50% and 70% of their value and the probability that they will continue for a while yet is high. “It is likely that not even the better tone of the Spanish real estate sector will lead to an increase in the prices at which the banks are selling their portfolios of foreclosed assets, given that there is a significant over-supply, which is exercising considerable pressure”, said Faraco and García, authors of the most recent report published by Fitch.

“The foreclosed properties are competing against a stock of around 500,000 recently built homes, which are ready for sale. Moreover, they are suffering from downwards pressure in terms of prices due to the profitability premiums that buyers require of the banks to cover uncertainties in the process”, said the analysts. The entities’ real estate portfolios carry a series of risks that can detract from the profitability obtained by a potential buyer, such as the fact that the dwelling cannot be accessed until the inhabitant is evicted.

Homes that the banks are responsible for placing directly with end buyers are treated differently. Such properties are sold with lower discounts but require much more time and resources go shift, something that the entities, under pressure from the supervisor to decrease their share of non-performing assets, cannot afford.

What Fitch does expect is a reduction in the number of new assets being foreclosed by the banks, in line with the improvement in the macroeconomic situation in Spain. “In this environment, it is also fundamental that the banks adopt a new strategy that favours handling doubtful loans through debt restructurings rather than as foreclosures”, said the experts.

Localised bubbles

Besides the banks’ assets, Fitch is observing an overall improvement in the fundamentals of the Spanish real estate market, with prices on the rise. “Despite the recovery, we do not see the risk of a new real estate bubble in Spain arising anytime soon. There is a large supply of homes that still needs to be absorbed. Nevertheless, we are seeing very localised bubbles in premium areas of certain neighbourhoods of Madrid, Barcelona and the Balearic Islands”, they explained.

Original story: Expansión (by Andrés Stumpf)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vitruvio Completes Its Merger With Consulnor

25 September 2017 – Eje Prime

Vitruvio has completed its corporate operation. On 13 September, the Socimi finalised the merger by absorption of Consulnor Patrimonio Inmobiliario, as agreed at the General Shareholders’ Meeting in June. In this way, Consulnor Patrimonio Inmobiliario has transferred all of its assets to Vitruvio, according to sources at the company. Following this change in structure, the Socimi will see its revenues soar next year to €6 million and its Board of Directors will change.

Following the merger, Vitruvio will manage a portfolio of real estate assets with a gross value of €103 million and will generate an estimated turnover of €5.2 million for this year. Thanks to the new assets, the company will have greater capillarity in the country and a more diversified portfolio of properties; it will also see an increase in its average profitability.

According to both groups, the operation will result in growth in terms of gross assets of almost 70%, “with a significant increase in revenues and profitability for shareholders”. Moreover, the company has highlighted a series of advantages that the merger of the two groups generates, including an increase in the shareholder base.

“The incorporation of Consulnor Patrimonio Inmobiliario brings with it the entry of around 70 new shareholders to the Socimi’s structure, including some institutional players, which means an increase in the marketability of the shares”, say sources at Vitruvio. Another key to the merger, according to the company, is the increase in turnover, which will result in “guaranteeing the remuneration policy for shareholders” (…).

The operation has been articulated through a €16.29 million capital increase in Vitruvio, through the issue of 1,629,907 new shares of the same class as those already in circulation with a nominal value of €10. Those shares have been issued at an issue premium of €3.20 per share and have been subscribed by the shareholders of Consulnor Patrimonio Inmobiliario. Following the merger, the market capitalisation of Vitruvio will be set at €64 million.

In terms of assets, on 25 May, Vitruvio subscribed to an “exclusive and binding” agreement to obtain a building for hotel use in Madrid for a value of between €11 million and €12 million. Although the company has not provided any more details about the operation, it has explained that the estimated annual rent from the property will amount to more than €650,000, “which represents a net return of more than 5.55%” (…).

New Board of Directors

As part of the agreement between Vitruvio and Consulnor Patrimonio Inmobiliario, the Board of Directors of the resulting company, which will retain the name Vitruvio, will result in the entry onto the Board of four new members. Most notably, Pablo de la Iglesia, Director General of Consulnor, will joins the Board of Directors of Vitruvio, having worked for other companies such as Barclays and Jopa Family Office.

José Antonio Torrealba will also have a seat on the Board of Vitruvio (…). José Ignacio Iglesias will be the representative of the Voluntary Social Welfare entity Araba Eta Gasteiz Aurreski Kutxa II (…). Finally, the fourth new member of the board will be Sergio Álvares, who is also an existing board member of Consulnor Patrimonio Inmobiliario.

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Gesvalt: Rental Prices Rise In Spain’s Prime Retail Spaces

31 March 2017 – Eje Prime

Rental prices in the retail market continued to rise in 2016. Rental prices on the prime high streets of the main urban areas in the country experienced a change in trend after an increase in their prices. High streets such as Portal de l’Àngel in Barcelona and Gran Vía in Madrid now have monthly rental costs of €270/m2 and €230/m2, respectively, according to the Market Study of Commercial premises, prepared by the valuation specialist Gesvalt.

Although the retail sector still represents a very attractive market, its volume decreased with respect to 2015, primarily due to the boom in the Socimis, which last year focused their attention on actively managing their portfolios, rather that making new investments like the year before.

In the Catalan capital, streets such as Paseo de Gracia, Rambla Cataluña and Avenida Diagonal saw prices stabilise at their 2015 levels. In Madrid, rental prices rose slightly with respect to 2015, with Calle Preciados once again the high street that recorded the most expensive prices in the capital, with rents of €255/m2/month. In Madrid, the significant increase in rents on Gran Vía saw prices rise from €205/m2/month to €230/m2/month last year.

In Valencia, rents in the prime areas rose by between 5% and 10%, and Calle Colón was the city’s most expensive street, with rents of up to €160/m2/month on its most exclusive stretches. In the city of Palma, prices remained stable with respect to the previous year on the city’s three prime streets.

“Meanwhile, it is worth noting the low and almost zero availability of large and flagship stores in all of the prime areas, due to the significant demand for that kind of property from the large brands”, said the study.

Sandra Daza, Director General at Gesvalt, said that, based on the results obtained, it is clear that “commercial premises are still the most profitable assets in Spain”. And she added that “buying a commercial property in a prime area in Spain and then leasing it out would currently generate a gross return of between 4.5% and 6%.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake