RomReal Ltd

OSE:ROM

Earnings Call Transcript 2019-Q4

[Harris Palaondas]

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the RomReal Fourth Quarter 2019 Results Presentation. The Q4 report and investor presentation can be found on our homepage, www.romreal.com, or alternatively, on www.newsweb.no.I, Harris Palaondas; and Chairman of RomReal, Kjetil Gronskag, will be available for questions by e-mail or phone shortly after the call has ended. This conference call will also be recorded and placed online on www.romreal.com.Please turn to Slide 3 of the presentation distributed today. These are the fourth quarter result highlights. Net asset value pre any tax was EUR 0.44 or NOK 4.42 per share, that being 3.2% lower compared to the end of the third quarter 2019. And this is mainly affected by the EUR 1.2 million of unrealized foreign exchange losses due to the RON depreciation against the euro affecting the intragroup euro-denominated loans.We had the valuation made by Knight Frank in the year 2019, that resulted in a 4% like-for-like increase in the portfolio value compared to the end of 2018. And correction here, the valuation resulted at a 5.4% like-for-like increase in the portfolio value compared to the end of 2018. Now for the operational highlights. During November 2019, RomReal signed the sale of 4 plots of land from The Lakeside plot, for a total consideration of EUR 565,500. This amount was fully cashed at the beginning of 2020. During the first quarter of 2020, the company entered in a sales agreement for 4 more plots for a total consideration of EUR 565,500. At the year-end 2019, EUR 2.1 million was invested in infrastructure to improve attractiveness of the land bank.At the Balada, EUR 2.5 million was #6 on the list. The sale was agreed, with the latest payment at 15th December and did not materialize. In this sense, the company maintained the nonrefundable down payment of EUR 150,000. The project is again marketed for sale. Since the third quarter of 2019 report, the legal processes have progressed in both the ongoing EUR 1.7 million tax dispute and the expropriation claim of land on the Mamaia North plot by the Navodari City Hall. And important legal events are scheduled to take place during February and March 2020. The company will keep investors updated with regards to these events.Please turn to the next slide. With regards to the financial results highlights, net result for the quarter was a loss of EUR 814,000 compared to a loss of EUR 779,000 during the same quarter last year. The operating cash flow for the quarter was a positive EUR 134,000 compared to a negative EUR 310,000 in the same period of last year.At the end of the quarter, the company has a strong and solid cash position of EUR 2.4 million, plus a total of EUR 1.7 million in conditional installments and payments related to binding sales agreement. That totals to EUR 4.1 million or about EUR 0.1 per share.The Romanian GDP expanded again with 4.3% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2019 following a 3% growth in the previous periods. Considering the 2019 full year, the economy expanded 4.1% compared with 4.4% growth in 2018. This maintains Romania as one of the strongest markets, the strongest economies within the European zone.Residential prices in Romania witnessed a 9.5% increase in Constanta, a 10.7% increase compared with the same month last year. And this is according to the largest online real estate platform, www.imobiliare.ro.Please turn to the next page. This table shows us the net asset value movement according to IFRS standards. During the fourth quarter of 2019, the net asset value pre any tax decreased to EUR 18,501 -- EUR 18.501 million at the end of the fourth quarter compared to EUR 19.117 million at the end of Q3 2019. The main decrease was due to the investment property with plots being sold. The average number of shares used in the NAV calculation is 41,367,783 shares and was unchanged from the previous quarter.Please turn over to the next page for the financial highlights. Operating revenue during the fourth quarter of 2019 was EUR 427,000 compared to EUR 37,000 reported last year in the same quarter. This consists of the rent earned by the company in respect of some of the plots as well as the disposal of some further assets in its land bank.Total operating expenses amounted to minus EUR 127,000 in the fourth quarter compared to minus EUR 368,000 in the same quarter last year. Main cost elements relates to general and administrative expenses of EUR 91,000. On the remaining operating expenses, the payroll costs were EUR 57,000, while the management fees were EUR 24,000.The other operating income or expense during the quarter was a loss of EUR 792,000, reflecting the cost of disposing the sold assets as well as movement in the EUR-RON exchange rate. During the fourth quarter, an operating loss of EUR 492,000 was generated compared to a loss of EUR 798,000 in the same quarter last year.And the foreign exchange result for the fourth quarter was a net loss of EUR 298,000 compared to a 0 net foreign exchange loss in the fourth quarter of 2018. During the quarter, the Romanian RON lost 0.59% to the euro. The cash position remains at a good level at EUR 2.371 million.Please turn over to the next page. This is the table with the RomReal properties at the end of the fourth quarter 2019. It consists of 275,835 square meters of land, and this consists of 6 plots. For further information, please visit our website, www.romreal.com.Now the operational highlights. The Lakeside is number one on the table. During the first quarter, we entered a sales agreement of 4 more plots for a total consideration of EUR 565,500. The Oasis, where we have some unfinished buildings, the company is still negotiating with ENEL, which is the energy company, the cost and conditions for the grid connection. The company is going to reauthorize the work for finalizing the blocks erected on site in order to give more value to the whole plot.Now the Industrial Park, as you recall, the company has agreed a conditional sale of 1.5 hectares to a foreign investor for a total amount of EUR 630,000 to be paid in stages. The company is presently following the due diligence authorization procedures of the roads and utilities. Following the provision for roads and utilities for this plot and with this anchor tenant, the company expect to sell more plots in the Industrial Park.On the Balada Market plot, the deal for EUR 2.5 million did not materialize. However, the company kept a nonrefundable down payment of EUR 150,000, and kind of looking for a new buyer.Badulescu plot. The new urbanistic plan has been finalized within 2019, and the company has already established promising leads with interesting investors in the area.Please turn to the next slide. Now with regards to the contestation against the Tax Authority Decision. The latest highlights is that during June 2019, the company managed to obtain a second court of appeal decision, confirming the fact that no attachments to the bank accounts or lands belonging to the Westhouse Group will take place. On the 5th of November 2019, the High Court of Justice decided to admit the appeal of the Tax Authority against the suspension decision issued by the Constanta Court of Appeal during 2018 court proceedings.The High Court of Justice in Bucharest will hear the appeal pursued by Constanta Tax Authority on 24th March 2020. In case the appeal pursued by the Tax Authority will be admitted by High Court of Justice, the decision will be final and executional, and the company will need to pay the amount of around EUR 1.7 million. The management team and the advisers will be present in this court meeting.The court restitution claim of the land plot in Mamaia North. The company has already served the necessary notifications to Navodari City Hall. And since the request of the company has been rejected, we have commenced legal steps to recover the plot. The case is presently in process by the Constanta court. Subject to a final solution with the municipality and subject to solving the litigation case, that piece of land is already agreed to be sold to the buyer of the company's previous Mamaia North plot.Please turn to the next page. Romanian macro development. Romania again recorded a 4.3% year-on-year in the fourth quarter increase of GDP following a 3% growth in the previous period, beating market expectations. On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, the economy has advanced 1.5%, the most since the third quarter of 2018. Considering the full year, the economy expanded 4.1%, below the 4.4% the year before. Nevertheless, Romania is one of the strong EU economies, which is growing per year.Most economists expect Romania's economic growth to slow down in 2020, while the local currency is expected to continue to weaken against the euro. Parliament ousted 3-month old minority government of Prime Minister Ludovic Orban in a no-confidence motion passed on the 5th of February. This company is still an interim company.Please turn to the next page. Romania real estate update. The volume of real estate investments in Romania exceeded the EUR 1 billion threshold in 2019, reaching about EUR 1.06 billion after a 7% annual advance compared to 2018. This is according to CBRE Romania, a real estate consulting company. The performance reached in 2019 marks a record over the last 5 years in terms of investment transactions in the Romanian real estate market. The construction of homes and offices recorded a good year with 62,000 new apartments delivered to the market. There was also a record level of transactions in the office sector, with over 450,000 square meters changing owners.According to Cushman & Wakefield, the cumulative area of the purchased land amounts to 36 hectares, and the value of transactions is estimated to about EUR 170 million, which is equivalent to an average price of EUR 470 per square meter. This is related to transactions within 2019. Of all the industrial spaces leased nationwide over the last year, more than 150,000 square meters, approximately 32%, represent transactions concluded directly between owners and tenants. In 2019, the stock of modern industrial spaces exceeded 4.3 million square meters, which was double the volume recorded in 2015.Please turn to the following slide. The apartment price development seems to be picking up both in Romania and Constanta. Average apartment prices recorded a 9.5% increase compared to January 2019. In Constanta, average apartment prices reached EUR 1,232 per square meter. It's a growth of 10.7% compared to January 2019.Please turn to the next page. This is a list of the top 20 RomReal shareholders as per 19 February 2020. This list is published here for your convenience only. The main focus areas going forward for the company is on land-enhancing activities in order to improve the shareholder value and potentially exit. This includes, among others, investments to improve the saleability of certain plots and to commence and to some extent, conclude the regulation processes. The company is involved in several ongoing conditional sales processes.Since the third quarter of 2019 report, the legal progress has moved in both the ongoing EUR 1.7 million tax dispute and the expropriation claim of land on Mamaia North plot by the Navodari City Hall and important legal events are scheduled to take place during March and February 2020.This concludes our presentation for today. Thank you for participating. This presentation will shortly be uploaded to our home page, www.romreal.com, for your convenience.Myself and Chairman of RomReal, Kjetil Gronskag, will be available for questions by email or phone shortly after this Webex. We wish you a good day.