Realia Convenes its AGM in June to Approve its Accounts

The real estate company controlled by Carlos Slim has convened its shareholders for their annual meeting on 2 June.

The listed real estate agency Realia, controlled by the Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, has announced that it will hold its annual shareholders’ meeting in early June. Specifically, the company has convened its shareholders on 2 June in the first call and on 3 June in the second call at the group’s headquarters in Madrid.

There, they will approval the accounts corresponding to the financial year 2019, when Realia generated a net profit of €44.9 million, compared to €40.16 million a year earlier.

Realia Earns 22% Less due to Covid-19 and Refinances its Debt to 2025

The real estate company controlled by Carlos Slim has closed the first quarter with a profit of €3.92 million. It has also announced the novation of its syndicated loan until 2025.

The listed real estate agency, Realia, closed the first quarter of 2020 with a profit of €3.94 million, down by 21.9% compared to the same period a year earlier.

The company, which is dedicated to property development and rental activities, increased its income and operating result (EBITDA); however, the increase in its provisions for Covid-19, which went from a gain of €74,000 to an expense of €1.87 million, weighed down its net result.

Slim Acquires 3% of Quabit for €4.8M

7 January 2020 – El Confidencial

The Mexican businessman Carlos Slim has acquired 3% of the share capital of Quabit for €4.8 million through his investment company Inversora Carso to become the property developer’s sixth-largest shareholder.

Quabit’s share price rose by 5.15% to €1.14 following the announcement of the purchase. The property developer’s president Félix Abánades is the largest investor with a 20% stake, followed by the Swiss manager Julius Baer (8.7%), the investor Francisco García Paramés (5%), the fund Gescooperativo (3.5%) and the Malagan property developer Sankar Real Estate (3.3%).

Slim appears to be redoubling his commitment to the Spanish real estate market, given that he already holds stakes in FCC and Realia, which currently have 800 and 750 homes under construction, respectively, along with 4.4 million m2 and 5.8 million m2 of land ripe for development, respectively.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Realia to Invest €16M in the Construction of 85 Flats in Tres Cantos (Madrid)

9 May 2019 – Idealista

The property developer Realia has announced that it is launching a new line of business dedicated to the rental of residential homes. In this way, it is following in the footsteps of its rivals in the sector, such as Grupo Lar, amongst others.

The group led by the Mexican magnate Carlos Slim has purchased a plot in Tres Cantos (Madrid), where it is going to invest €16 million in the construction of 85 homes.

As at the end of March 2019, the company had a stock of 546 units (homes, premises and offices) that were either finished or in progress and pending delivery. In the residential sector, it had three developments underway (in Palma de Mallorca, Sabadell and Alcalá de Henares) plus a construction licence to start work on 45 units in Valdebebas (Madrid).

Realia’s land portfolio spans more than 5.7 million m2 and the company registered a net profit of €5.02 million during Q1 2019, up by 18.1% YoY.

Original story: Idealista 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Realia Adopts RICS Standards for its Asset Valuations

21 March 2019 – Eje Prime

The Board of Directors of Realia has unanimously approved the decision to change the valuation method for its assets linked to property development to bring it in line with market practice.

The listed real estate company has notified the National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV) that it will adopt the July 2017 professional standards of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) from the end of H1 2019 onwards.

The company closed 2018 with a profit of €40.2 million, up by 31.8% and a portfolio valuation based on market value of €1.84 billion, up by 3.1% YoY.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Busining Leases 4,900 m2 in one of the Kio Towers to Open a Coworking

20 February 2019 – Eje Prime

Busining is going to create a new business centre in Torre Realia The Icon, one of the former Kio Towers in Madrid. The company, which specialises in coworking spaces, has leased 4,900 m2 of space from Realia, the owner of the property. The space is distributed over five floors in the iconic building located at number 216 Paseo de la Castellana where it is going to open offices and meeting rooms. The operation has been advised by Cushman&Wakefield.

The tower, known as The Icon, is one of the most iconic buildings in the Spanish capital and is considered to be the first skyscraper in the world to be built at a sloping angle. Its architect, Philip Johnson, was the first recipient of the Pritzker award.

With this operation, Busininng, which has five business spaces in Madrid, is expanding its offer in the business district of the Spanish capital. “This new operation is another example of the consolidation and growth of the coworking phenomenon in the Spanish market”, said Ignacio Oyarzun, Associate in the Business Space area at Cushman & Wakefield.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Realia Completes its €149M Capital Increase

2 January 2019 – Eje Prime

Realia has completed its capital increase. The real estate firm owned by the Mexican magnate Carlos Slim has completed its €149 million capital increase with a final injection of €42.1 million, according to a statement filed by the company with Spain’s National Securities and Market Commission (CNMV).

In its latest expansion phase, the company has issued 175.4 million new shares in total, for a nominal value of €0.24 and an issue premium of €0.61 per share. The company’s share capital has thereby been consolidated at €197 million, divided into 820 million shares.

Since Slim took control in 2015, Realia has undertaken three capital increases in total. The latest is the operation closed today, which was approved in November to try to decrease the company’s debt, which amounts to €672 million, and to provide a financial boost to its real estate businesses.

Slim controls 70.76% of Realia’s capital, 33% in a direct way and 36.98% through the construction group FCC, which is also led by the Mexican businessman. The real estate company also has an asset portfolio spanning approximately half a million square metres, which includes one of the Kio Towers in Madrid.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Realia Launches a €149M Capital Increase

15 November 2018 – El Economista

Realia has launched a capital increase amounting to €149 million, with preferential subscription rights, through which Carlos Slim is going to make a new capital injection into the real estate company that he controls in Spain.

This increase follows another two that the firm has carried out since 2015, when the Mexican magnate took control of the company and which have been used to clean up the firm and reduce its debt.

By virtue of the new operation, Realia is going to issue 175.45 million new shares at €0.85 per share, a price that represents a discount of 7.5% with respect to the firm’s current share price, which closed trading on the stock market on Thursday at €0.923.

The operation is going to be launched once approval has been received from Spain’s National Securities and Markets Commission (CNMV). Current shareholders will have preferential subscription rights, which means that they may request new shares at a rate of three new shares for every eleven that they already own.

Carlos Slim controls 70.76% of Realia’s share capital, 33.8% in a direct way and 36.9% through FCC, a construction group that he also controls. The Mexican businessman has participated in all of the capital increases that Realia has undertaken until now.

Realia is launching a new capital increase after reactivating its construction and house sale business, which has been suspended since the start of the crisis.

The company also has a portfolio of assets spanning a surface area of around 500,000 m2, comprising office buildings and shopping centres, including one of the Kio Towers in Plaza Castilla, Madrid.

The real estate firm, which has suspended its dividend since 2009, closed the first nine months of this year with a profit of €24 million and a turnover of €70 million. The firm has total debt amounting to €672 million.

Original story: El Economista 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Realia Starts Building Homes with the Launch of 5 Developments

1 July 2018 – Expansión

The real estate company controlled by Carlos Slim has resumed its property development business with the launch of five new promotions, comprising 594 homes that, when they are handed over, will generate revenues of €208 million.

Realia is planning to continue to launch new developments on the portfolio of land that it owns, but it is also investing in new plots, such as the one it purchased recently from the Ministry of Defence in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) for €27.5 million.

This is the first acquisition of land that the company made since the Mexcian magnate took control, which saw it join the wave of investments that companies in this area are undertaking in the land segment in light of the reactivation of the sector.

Nevertheless, after Realia stopped building homes at the beginning of the crisis, it now has a land portfolio spanning 1.85 million m2. The company says that it now has some of these plots under development in Madrid, Cataluña and Levante, areas that currently account for the greatest demand in terms of housing.

The real estate company includes the launch of new developments as a key strategy in the new phase that it is undertaking following the clean-up carried out since Slim acquired his share capital

This week, at its General Shareholders’ Meeting, Realia said that it is “ready” for the new real estate cycle, following the reduction and restructuring of its debt and the cutback in expenses, measures that it considers “are already reflected in the income statement”.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Realia Refinances the €120M Debt Owed by its Property Development Arm

22 June 2018 – Eje Prime

Realia has today refinanced the debt owed by its property development arm, amounting to €120 million. The liability was due to mature on 30 June 2018, according to a statement filed by the real estate company, in which FCC and Carlos Slim hold stakes, with Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV).

The new financing is due to mature on 31 December 2020. Realia has also indicated that “(the new financing) has been subscribed under competitive market conditions”. At the end of 2017, the company had gross bank debt amounting to €763 million, down by 10% compared to a year earlier.

Realia ended the year 2017 with a net profit of €30.5 million, 73.7% less than in 2016. The decrease was caused by the extraordinary results registered in 2016 due to discounts associated with another debt refinancing.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake