Baldomero Falcones Acquires 5% Stake In Renta Corporación

23 December 2015 – Efe

According to a statement made by Renta Corporación, the businessman Baldomero Falcones has acquired a 5% stake in the company. Until now that stake was owned by Sareb, the entity also known as the “bad bank”.

The CEO of Renta Corporación, David Vila, has indicated that the incorporation of Baldomero Falcones will allow the company to face the future challenges set out in its strategic plan “with a significantly reinforced capital structure”.

Falcones used to be the President of the construction company FCC, until January 2013. In addition, he has also served as the President of MasterCard Internacional and the Director General of Banco Santander, as well as a member of the board of that entity for 15 years.

Falcones has also chaired Banco Urquijo Limited in the United Kingdom; Hispano Americano Sociedade do Inestimento in Portugal; Banco Hispano Americano Benelux, Banco Urquijo Chile, Fiat Finance and Santander Seguros.

He is the founder of the private equity firm Magnum Industrial Partners and a member of the Board of Directors of Unión Fenosa, CESCE, Generali España, Seguros La Estrella, Europay International and Banif.

He served as the President and CEO of FCC for five years and received compensation amounting to €7.5 million when he left the construction group, due to the early termination of his contract.

Renta Corporación has prepared a strategic plan for the period 2016-2020, whose objectives include doubling its annual net profit to €20 million, amongst others.

Original story: Efe

Translation: Carmel Drake

Quabit Plans To Invest €470M Over 5 Years

22 October 2015 – Expansión

Yesterday, the listed real estate company Quabit, controlled by the Rayet group, presented its business plan for the next five years (2015-2020), which includes planned investments of €470 million.

These investments will focus on the purchase of urban land, primarily in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and the Costa del Sol, with the aim of building housing developments on the plots “immediately”.

Thus, Quabit expects to deliver more than 3,000 homes (727 from assets in its existing portfolio and 2,310 from new investments) and whereby generate revenues of €954 million.

Moreover, the real estate company will generate turnover of €76 million from the sale of land in its portfolio, taking its total revenues to €1,030 million over the next five years.

The strategic plan also provides for the payment of dividends, in both shares and cash, amounting to €59 million and the cancelation of debt amounting to €63 million through the transfer of assets in lieu of payment. Yesterday, Quabit’s shares closed trading at €0.08, down by 2.44%.

Original story: Expansión (by R.R.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Renta Corporación Intends To Double Its Profits In Five Years

24 July 2015 – El Economista

Renta Corporación has launched a new five-year strategic plan (for the period 2016-2020), in which it details its plans to double its profit to €20 million by 2020, compared with the €9 million that it expects to generate this year, according to the real estate company.

Thus, the company, which exited from bankruptcy proceedings last year, embarks on a new growth phase, driven by the economic recovery and the real estate sector.

In this context, the real estate company, which specialises in the purchase of buildings for their renovation and subsequent sale, will focus on “taking advantage” of the opportunities that arise in the sector “mainly, in the management of assets for third parties” and in increasing the number and size of its transactions.

In this sense, Renta Corporación expects its turnover to almost double (+88%) over the next five years to reach €340 million by 2020.

The real estate company will combine this new policy with its compliance with a creditors agreement (through which it emerged from bankruptcy in June 2014), as well as a unilateral agreement it made with the Tax Authorities to repay its senior debt.

During the first half of the year, Renta Corporación recorded a net profit of €4.5 million, i.e. 47% less than in 2014, because of the effect of a reclassification that it had to record for part of the debt it holds with the Tax Authorities.

Appeal to the Supreme Court regarding its debt with the Tax Authorities

Specifically, as a result of a ruling issued by the Provincial Court of Barcelona, the real estate company had to classify €9.3 million of the amount it owes to the Tax Authorities as senior debt.

Nevertheless, the company has appealed against the ruling to the Supreme Court and estimates that “the effects of this reclassification may be reserved in the event that this judicial review considers it appropriate”.

Renta Corporación’s half year results were also affected by the extraordinary items that the company recorded in 2014. Profits remained stable during H1 2015 at €4.4 million; meanwhile, the company recorded a negative EBITDA of €500,000), compared with an EBITDA loss of €25.2 million a year earlier.

At the end of June, Renta Corporación held net financial debt amounting to €17.6 million, roughly in line with its debt balance at the beginning of the year.

The company’s new strategic plan also envisages a gradual reduction in its level of indebtedness, from a liability of €17.5 million forecast for the end of 2015, to €4.9 million in 2019, to a positive balance by 2020.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bankia Will Earn Rental Income Of €324M From Torre Foster

6 April 2015 – Expansión

Bankia will earn €324 million from the rental of Torre Foster, the building that the bank owns in the Cuatro Torres complex on the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid. In October 2013, Bankia signed an agreement to lease the property to Cepsa, a company owned by Abu Dabi. BFA-Bankia inherited the building from Caja Madrid, which purchased it from Repsol for €815 million in 2007. The lease contract was established for a period of eight years and may be renewed for another seven years. According to the annual accounts of Torre Norte Castellana, a fully owned subsidiary of Bankia, whose sole activity is the lease of the building, the annual rental cost is €21.63 million.

The entity must dispose of this asset as part of its restructuring plan. The rental contract, which was signed as part of the bank’s strategic plan for the period 2012-2015, included a purchase option, which is exercisable in 2016. It will be organised through the acquisition of shares in Torre Norte, at a price that will be determined on the basis of objective criteria that have already been agreed.

At the time, Bankia thought that the best way of generating value from Torre Foster was to rent it out; the building’s value was updated following the balance sheet clean up that the BFA-Bankia group performed in 2012, after its nationalisation. Torre Foster contains office space measuring more than 109,000 square metres, including a gross leasable area of 56,250 square metres, as well as 37,500 square metres in its five-storey garage, reports Europa Press.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake