Tag: turnover

Unibail’s Profit in Spain Falls by 3.6% Following the Sale of 4 Assets

20 February 2019 – Idealista

The French shopping centre giant has seen its profits in Spain decline due to one of the operations of the year. Unibail-Rodamco earned 3.6% less in the Spanish market in 2018, specifically, €155 million, following the sale of its portfolio of four shopping centres to the South African fund Vukile for around €500 million, as reported by Idealista News last July. If it had not carried out that sale, the group’s profits would have grown by 2.8%.

The company ended last year in the Spanish market with a net profit of €161 million, up by 10.3% compared to 2016, when the group earned €146 million. Until now, Spain had been one of the fastest-growing countries for Unibail-Rodamco.

Across all of the markets in which it operates, the French company recorded a net profit of €1.9 billion, up by 36.9% YoY. That increase in gains was due, in part, to the purchase of the Westfield shopping centre group.

Whilst the area where Unibail-Rodamco increased its profit by the most in the last twelve months was Central Europe, up by 21.7%, France was ranked in second place, with growth of 5.3%. Behind France was Austria with an increase in profits of 4.3%.

Mega-operation with Vukile

Unibail-Rodamco became one of the stars of the sector last July when it closed the sale of four shopping centres to the South African fund Vukile, through its Spanish real estate vehicle Castellana Properties Socimi for €489 million (…).

Currently, the group led by Christophe Cuvillier (pictured above) owns a portfolio in Spain worth €3.6 billion, which receives 126.2 million visitors per year. Those assets account for 10% of its global portfolio.

Original story: Idealista (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

El Corte Inglés Considers Creating a Socimi to List its Real Estate Assets on the Stock Market

15 February 2019 – Modaes.es

El Corte Inglés is looking for solutions for its portfolio of real estate assets. The Qatari sheikh Hamad Al Thani, the third largest shareholder in the Madrilenian department store group, has proposed the creation of a Socimi to manage the rental of its assets.

The plan proposed by Al Thani, who entered the company’s share capital last summer, involves creating a company in which El Corte Inglés would own a 51% stake. The remaining 49% of the shares would be listed on the stock market.

The Qatari investor already proposed this solution to the previous President of the group, Dimas Gimeno, but it was not successful then, according to El Economista. For the time being, the Board of Directors of El Corte Inglés has not received a formal petition regarding the plan.

The real estate portfolio of El Corte Inglés is worth €17.1 billion, according to a report from Tinsa. The department stores and hypermarkets are worth €15.0 billion, whilst the warehouses, offices and mixed-use buildings are worth €1.1 billion. Finally, the high street establishments are valued at €1 billion.

It is estimated that, in the event that the operation proposed by the sheikh goes ahead, the valuation of the assets could amount to half their current value, around €8.2 billion, according to Tinsa.

In parallel, the group is continuing to work on the sale of 130 real estate assets worth €2 billion in conjunction with the consultancy firm PwC. The property that El Corte Inglés wants to divest now comprises land, offices and buildings defined as non-strategic. Those assets also include some logistics centres.

The objective of these divestments is to reduce the group’s debt so that it can obtain a level of solvency that will allow it to raise financing in the capital markets at a lower price. In this sense, Núñez de la Rosa, the President of the group, has committed to reducing the group’s liabilities by €1 billion in twelve months.

Currently, the real estate portfolio of El Corte Inglés comprises 94 shopping centres, which account for 87% of the total value of the company’s assets. Two of those properties are valued at more than €500 million each, and another two are worth between €400 million and €500 million each.

The department store group recorded EBITDA of €335 million during the first half of 2018, up by 4.4% YoY. Between January and August, the company recorded turnover of €7.6 billion, up by 0.4% YoY.

Original story: Modaes.es

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sales at Shopping Centres Up By 1.3% in 2018, Driven by Cosmetics and Sporting Goods

6 February 2019

The turnover at fashion and accessories stores fell by 0.5% last year due to climate changes and the companies’ commitment to online fashion.

The turnover of shopping centres is increasing. Sales at large stores increased by 1.3% in 2018, boosted by a rebound in cosmetics and sporting goods. On the other hand, sales of fashion and accessories retreated last year, posting a 0.5% drop in turnover.

Turnover at cosmetics and sporting goods stores increased by 5.6% and 4.4%, respectively. Growth in the two sectors allowed shopping centres to offset the 0.5% decrease in sales by fashion and accessories stores, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s index of comparable sales at shopping centres.

2018 brought an end to a series of positive results for the fashion and accessories sector over the last few years, despite an increase of 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Climate changes and increasing investments in online sales largely account for the declines.

Sporting goods stores posted a 4.4% increase in sales in 2018

On the other hand, sporting goods stores posted a 4.4% rise in turnover in a year marked by alterations to store concepts and operators’ strategies, with an increased focus on the footwear and casual fashion segments. Also, the increase in 2018 exceeded those of 2017 and 2016 (1.1% and 1.4%, respectively).

Meanwhile, cosmetics and perfumes saw a breakthrough in 2018, with a 5.6% rise in turnover. Also, these stores combined participation in total turnover at shopping centres managed or marketed by Cushman & Wakefield has grown 1.5 points since 2014.

Original Story: EjePrime

Translation: Richard Turner

 

Century 21 Grows By 26% in 2018, Setting Course for a Turnover of €25 Million This Year

82% of the transactions during 2018 were made by Spanish buyers, while foreigners accounted for 18%. Clients from Great Britain, France and Belgium topped the list of international buyers on the Spanish real estate market.

Century 21 Spain is on the rise. The real estate brokerage ended the year 2018 with a turnover of around twenty million euros. The company’s sales reached 19.8 million euros, an increase of 26% over the previous year (15.7 million euros).

In 2019, the real estate brokerage plans to increase its turnover by 34%, reaching 25 million euros.

During 2018, the Century 21 network made a total of 7,389 real estate transactions, with an average sales price of 178,876 euros. This represents an increase of 36% in the number of transactions compared to 2017.

82% of transactions completed through Century 21 during 2018 were by Spanish buyers while 18% were by international clients. The countries that invested the most in the Spanish real estate market were Great Britain, France and Belgium.

Original Story: EjePrime

Translation: Richard Turner

 

MK Premium Acquires Another Building in Barcelona for €3.8M

31 January 2019 – Eje Prime

MK Premium is starting the year with new purchases. The company has acquired another building in Barcelona for €3.8 million. The asset is located at number 5 Calle Milans, a street in the ‘Gótico’ neighbourhood where the company already owns another property.

According to explanations provided by the company, it is a historical property, constructed in 1870, with a total surface area of 1,107 m2, comprising seven homes and two commercial premises.

In 2017, MK Premium acquired the building located at number 4, with a total surface area of 2,700 m2, worth €10 million. With this purchase of number 5 Calle Milans, the Spanish property company has invested almost €14 million and owns assets spanning more than 3,700 m2.

The Spanish property firm, specialising in real estate assets ended 2018 with a profit of €2.12 million, which represented an increase of 135% with respect to 2017. The company’s turnover for the year amounted to €14.63 million (…).

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Meridia III Buys a Logistics Platform in Madrid for €15M+

5 December 2018 – Eje Prime

Meridia III has added another asset to its logistics portfolio. Meridia Capital’s Socimi has acquired an industrial platform in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) for €15.25 million, according to a statement filed by the company with the Alternative Investment Market (MAB).

The warehouse has a surface area of 26,400 m2 and is located on the Corredor de Henares axis, the place that accounts for the largest volume of logistics stock in the whole of Spain.

The Socimi, which debuted on the stock market at the end of 2017, has financed the operation using a €10.3 million loan with a term of seven years, according to a statement filed by the company with the stock market regulator. Moreover, with this acquisition, the logistics portfolio of Meridia III now spans almost 100,000 m2.

In recent months, the company has also been undertaking some significant investments in the Spanish office market, such as its purchase in March of a building in the financial district of Madrid for €26.5 million. That property, which has a surface area of 7,500 m2, is located at number 4 Calle Juan Hurtado de Mendoza, close to Paseo de la Castellana. Moreover, in Barcelona, the Catalan manager leased its new building in the 22@ district to the international consultancy firm Everis.

On the other hand, according to the company’s latest accounts, Meridia III recorded a loss of €522,124 to June, which means that said indicator had decreased by 76% with respect to the first half of 2017. In addition, the company recorded revenues of €8 million during the first six months of the year, whereby doubling its turnover in comparison with the same period a year earlier.

Moreover, the company completed a €14.2 million capital increase at the end of November. The company’s new shares are going to be issued for a nominal value of €13 million plus an issue premium of €1.2 million.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Neinor Evaluates Rental Market but Insists on Maintaining its Margins

31 October 2018 – El Economista

Neinor Homes sees a clear business opportunity in the rental market in Spain. Nevertheless, it is not going to enter the segment if doing so would reduce its profit margin.

That is according to Juan Velayos (pictured above), the CEO of the firm, who indicates that Neinor “must be clear about what it is and what it wants to be, and we want to be a property developer, and as such, our profitability is sacred”. On that basis, Velayos recognises that “there is a clear business opportunity in that sector and very few companies have the capacity that we have to produce rental homes”.

In fact, he says that “many players who want to take positions in the rental market are approaching us, and although I am not going to close an operation tomorrow, we are evaluating lots of options, whenever they are coherent with our business model. Common sense tells me that we ought to be capable of meeting that need in the market and for the business to be profitable for Neinor”, said Velayos.

The property developer, which had managed to multiply its operating EBITDA by four by the end of September, to reach €9.5 million, expects to close this year in the black, “in a comfortable way”, highlights Velayos, who believes that the firm’s EBITDA at the end of December will amount to around €50 million, in line with the consensus of the market.

At the end of September, the firm had recorded a loss of €1.2 million and revenues of €156 million. “The most interesting aspect is that €100 million of that turnover came from the development arm, whilst €32 million came from the Legacy business and €23 million from Servicing”, highlights the director.

Neinor has committed to handing over 1,000 homes this year, spread across 14 promotions. “Nine of them have already been handed over and during the last quarter, the keys to the remaining five will be handed over, given that they now have their final construction certificate”, specifies the director, who assures that the 1,000 units are almost all pre-sold. “We only have 2% left, which we have not been marketing because we are waiting until the end to maximise the price of the best units”.

“We have been on a journey that has involved a lot of work over the last three years and now we are starting to hand over a significant volume of homes, which actually represent more than all of our major competitors put together. Neinor started first and so now we are reaping the rewards”, highlights Velayos.

Specifically, the company has an order book comprising 3,049 homes, which represent a volume of pre-sales of €1.019 billion. Moreover, comparing units with the same characteristics, the property developer has managed to achieve an 8.2% increase in prices and has also increased its margin to 28%.

That has allowed the firm to handle rising construction costs, which have increased by 3.8%, without any problems. Those costs “are expected to continue to rise, by 6%, but we will also seek to increase our margins”, says Velayos.

For next year, the company has set itself the target of handing over 2,000 homes in 31 developments where building work is already underway. “We also have some very solid pre-sales figures for 2019 of 78%; and the rest are not being marketed, given that the best way of protecting our margin is to wait to sell those units”, explains the CEO of Neinor (…).

Currently, the company has one of the largest land banks with capacity for 13,700 homes (…).

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Don Piso now has 120 Branches Following Openings in Madrid, Andalucía & the Canary Islands

2 November 2018 – Eje Prime

DonPiso is strengthening its position in the growth markets. The Spanish real estate company is going to open five new branches in Spain to take its total network to 120 premises before the end of the year. “We are finalising openings in Madrid capital, Leganés, Sevilla, Las Palmas and Tenerife”, explained Emiliano Bermúdez, General Deputy Director at DonPiso, speaking to Eje Prime.

The director highlighted that Madrid, Andalucía and the Canary Islands are “growth markets, where we would like to expand our presence”. In addition to those three regions, DonPiso is accelerating its growth in Valencia and Málaga, where it is working to be able to open new branches soon.

The group, which has a large presence in Barcelona, is trying to expand its brand beyond Spain’s two major cities. In this sense, the company is strengthening its position in Valencia and the Balearic Islands, where the business is now consolidating.

Moreover, the company is working to open new markets in the north of Spain. “We have opened a development centre in the País Vasco and Galicia to grow there in 2019”, explained the director.

Growth of more than 20% with 3,600 homes brokered  

“This year is going well, in line with the market” said Bermúdez. “We expect to achieve growth in our operations of between 20% and 25%”, said the executive, who believes that DonPiso will end 2018 with more than 3,600 homes brokered. In this regard, Bermúdez highlighted growth in the portfolio of real estate in the Canary Islands.

DonPiso is going to generate turnover of more than €30 million this year, after recording €29.2 million in 2017. “For the time being, we are growing at double-digit figures, although I do not think we will reach 20%, like in the case of the volume of operations”, acknowledges Bermúdez. “Now we are waiting to see what will happen at the end of the year because November tends to be a very good month”, said the director.

Nevertheless, Bermúdez is uneasy about the situation is certain parts of the country. “The position is polarising in the major capitals, which are evolving in different ways”, he explained.

All in all, Bermúdez warns that “Madrid and Barcelona are on the verge of topping out price wise if they haven’t done so already”. “The rise in prices is colliding with (very stable) salaries and we have noted a slow down in sales during the second half of the year”, said the director.

The General Deputy Director of DonPiso said that, nevertheless, although “there is a moderate dynamic in the market in Spain, we do not see any problems in the short term”. “In our case, we can assume the response to demand; moreover, we believe that the current difficulties involved with selling will allow us to take on more flats”, says Bermúdez.

In addition to selling and brokering, DonPiso is also promoting homes. This line of business is growing for the company with the new upwards cycle. Although it accounts for a small line on the income statement, the company has fourteen developments underway in Barcelona, which sum a total value of €45 million, as revealed by Eje Prime.

In this area, 2019 is expected to be a year during which we will “collect fruits through sales”, but also launch new developments, according to Bermúdez. “We will launch more projects in the Barcelona metropolitan area: we still have land in El Vallès, El Baix Llobregat and El Maresme”, said the director.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Jabier Izquierdo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Castellana to Merge the Kinépolis & Alameda Shopping Centres in Granada

2 November 2018 – Eje Prime

Castellana is making changes in Granada. The Socimi owned by the South African fund Vukile is going to merge the Alameda Retail Park and the Kinépolis shopping centre into a new brand, called Granaita, according to explanations provided in a corporate presentation that the firm has distributed to potential investors.

The company, which has been listed on the Alternative Investment Market (MAB) since July, will invest €5 million in the process to reposition and integrate its two shopping centres in Granada.

Castellana is one of the emerging players in the current retail market in Spain, in which it specialises. The objective of the company is to be “the leading Socimi in the retail sector”, adds the company, whose objectives include the optimisation of its asset portfolio. The operation that it is going to carry out in Granada sits firmly within that framework.

The real estate manager acquired Kinépolis in June 2017, through the company Junction Parque Granada. The asset, inaugurated in 2004, comprises eight stores with a gross leasable area of 18,508 m2 and is worth €32.5 million.

Meanwhile, Alameda Retail Park was incorporated into Castellana’s portfolio in December last year. Located in the municipality of Pulianas, in Granada, the park began operating in 2014 and comprises four stores with a gross leasable area (GLA) of 27,256 m2. The monthly rent at Alameda amounts to €10.71 and its market value stands at €55.3 million.

The fund that sustains the Socimi financially, Vukile, is going to inject up to €200 million over the next few years to continue with its plan to conquer the commercial sector in Spain, where it hopes to form a portfolio worth €1.2 billion. Castellana is going to look for new shareholders to inject the resources necessary to carry out this plan, which seeks to enable the Socimi to make the leap from the MAB to the main stock exchange within the next three years.

In pursuit of this goal, Vukile acquired four shopping centres from Unibail-Rodamco for €489 million last summer, which were placed in Castellana’s portfolio, as reported by Eje Prime.

Castellana Properties closed 2017 with revenues of €9.31 million, whilst it registered turnover of €5.15 million during the first three months of 2018. The net result for 2017 amounted to €18.61 million, and the firm earned €6.65 million during the first quarter of 2018. The group’s debt at the end of 2017 amounted to €146 million.

Original story: Eje Prime (By Jabier Izquierdo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Urban Outfitters to Open Spain’s First Anthropologie Store in Barcelona

25 October  2018 – Eje Prime

The Spanish retail sector is welcoming a new international operator. After an arduous two-year search for premises on the prime high streets of Madrid and Barcelona, Urban Outfitters has found a space to launch its first Anthropologie store in the country. This debut comes four years after the US fashion group first opened its doors in the heart of the Catalan capital.

Anthropologie is soon going to open at number 27 Paseo de Gracia, in a store measuring almost 780 m2, distributed over two floors and owned by a family office. The chain is going to take over from the Italian firm Twinset Milano, which will shut down in the next few days. The rental operation has been brokered by the real estate consultancy firm Aretail.

Specifically, the ground floor of the future Anthropologie establishment has a surface area 365 m2, whilst the basement spans 414 m2. The company will share the street with luxury operators such as Fendi, Céline and Kenzo, as well as with major distribution groups such as Inditex, Fast Retailing, H&M and Mango, amongst others.

Urban Outfitters arrived in the Spanish market in May 2014, when it launched a subsidiary to manage its business in the country. That same year, the group opened the first store of its homonymous chain in the El Triangle shopping centre in Barcelona, where it replaced the home décor firm Habitat.

Two years after its first opening, the US company started to search for new locations both in the Catalan capital and in Madrid to open its first points of sale for Anthropologie and Free People, the other chain owned by Urban Outfitters. In the spring, rumours of the imminent closure of an operation were revived.

Anthropologie is the group’s largest division by turnover, ahead of Urban Outfitters itself. The female fashion chain closed 2017 with sales of $1.4 billion (€1.2 billion), up by 1.9%. That figure accounted for 39.4% of the group’s total revenues.

At the end of its last financial year (31 January 2018), the chain operated 226 stores in the USA, Canada and Europe. The company is immersed in an international expansion process, which includes an overseas growth strategy. For that reason, Anthropologie appointed Peter Ruis, the former director of Levi Strauss, as the senior director of the international business in July.

Original story: Eje Prime (by L. Molina and P. Riaño)

Translation: Carmel Drake