RomReal Ltd

OSE:ROM

Earnings Call Analysis

Earnings Call Transcript 2020-Q4

[Harris Palaondas, Head of Investor Relations]

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the RomReal Fourth Quarter 2020 Results Presentation. I am Harris Palaondas, Investor Relations for RomReal, and I will be guiding you through this presentation. The Q4 report and investor presentation can be found on our home page, www.romreal.com, or alternatively, on www.newsweb.no. Please turn to Page 3 of this presentation distributed today. Here, we're seeing the Q4 2020 result highlights, and asset value was EUR 0.36 or NOK 3.87 before any tax paid per share, that being 18.2% lower compared to the end of the third quarter 2020. This lower indication is affected by the end-of-year valuation performed by Knight Frank during February 2021, and the values of the group investments property have been updated accordingly. So like-for-like values for the investment properties shows a decrease of about 7.3% during 2020, reflecting the general market challenges brought by the pandemic, always according to Knight Frank. With regards to operational highlights, during the fourth quarter, the company sold a further 16 plots in a very difficult year on the Ovidiu Lakeside project, the full compensation of those being EUR 0.36 million. Also, during the first quarter of '21, the company sold 4 more plots for a total of EUR 0.16 million. All prices are in line with the 2019 IFRS valuation by Knight Frank. During 2020, EUR 1.1 million without VAT have been further invested in infrastructure, primarily in the Industrial Park and Lakeside, preparing those plots for further development and marketing. Industrial Park, the sale of the 3 plots totaling about EUR 0.8 million has been terminated for the time being. The company is planning to file a lawsuit against the local water utility. The Balada Market property is marketed for sale, but court case has been commenced as a local municipality has withdrawn an urbanization certificate issued in 2015. Please turn to the next page, financial results. The net result for the quarter was EUR 2.94 million loss compared to a loss of EUR 0.81 million the same quarter last year. The net change in cash flow for the quarter was a negative EUR 1.35 million compared to a negative EUR 0.12 million in the same period last year. This was mainly due to the group's decision to make a EUR 1.5 million (sic) [ EUR 1.05 million ] payment in relation to the tax dispute with the local tax authorities to benefit a waiver of any potential penalties. Accounting-wise, the company has also booked a provision for the same amount according to IFRS standards. At the end of 2020, the company had a cash position of EUR 1.2 million plus a total of EUR 0.42 million in unsettled receivables related to binding sales agreements. That totals to EUR 1.62 million or about EUR 0.04 per share. Now Romania's GDP contracted during 2020 by 3.9% compared to a growth rate of 4.1% in the previous year. This is according to flash data by the national institute. In the fourth quarter, Romania fell 1.5% year-on-year, following a 5.7% annual contraction in the third quarter. On a quarterly comparison basis, Romania's GDP rose by 5.3% during the last quarter of the year, which was a surprise rise in the GDP. During January 2021, average residential prices in Romania reached an average price of EUR 1,361 per square meter, indicating a slight increase of 1.1% compared with the same period last year. In Constanta, average prices at the end of January 2021 reached EUR 1,245 per square meter, showing an increase of 1.8% compared with the same period last year according to the largest online platform, imobiliare.ro. Please turn to the following page. This is a page that shows the net asset movement the in fourth quarter of 2020. The investment property stands at EUR 2.7 million. Assets held for sale are EUR 2.2 million with inventories at EUR 8.4 million. As indicated previously, cash is at EUR 1.2 million, including another EUR 0.4 million of other assets. This gives us a net asset value of EUR 15 million. Now the change that's again because of the Knight Frank end-of-year valuation that took place this month provides a negative change in the NAV of 18.2% or EUR 0.36 per share. The average number of shares used in the NAV calculation has remained unchanged from the previous quarter of 2020. Please turn to the next page for the financial highlights. The operating revenue during the fourth quarter of 2020 was EUR 0.446 million compared to a total of EUR 0.428 million reported in the same period last year. This consists of the revenue resulting mainly from the disposals made during the quarter as well as the rent earned by the company in respect of some of the plots. Total operating expenses amounted to EUR 0.48 million compared to EUR 0.127 million in Q3 2019. The main element of costs relates to EUR 0.22 million of unrealized loss on the Rofrench plots. Other costs are split across the general and administrative expenses and payroll costs. The other operating income or expense during the quarter was a loss of EUR 3.4 million, reflecting 3 things: the value adjustment resulting following the independent valuation report, the extraordinary cost incurred in relation to the disputed tax and the movement in the euro/ron exchange rate. During the fourth quarter of 2020, RomReal generated an operating loss of EUR 3.5 million compared to loss of EUR 0.491 million during Q4 2019. Foreign exchange result was a net gain of EUR 5,000 compared to a net foreign exchange loss of EUR 298,000 during the same quarter in '19. During the quarter, the ron lost 1.89% to the euro. The company policy is always to hedge these effects by retaining most of its cash in euro and always by denominating all receivables in euros. The result before tax was a loss of 3 -- almost EUR 3.5 million compared to a loss before tax of EUR 0.789 million during the fourth quarter of 2019. The company's cash and cash equivalent position as of the end of the quarter was EUR 1.2 million compared to EUR 2.5 million at the end of the third quarter 2020. In addition, a total of EUR 247,000 in outstanding payments related to binding sales agreements, which provides a total of EUR 1.5 million. The proceeds from the restitution case in Mamaia North plot is not included here. Please turn to the next page. Here we see a table of the RomReal properties as they stand in Q4 2020. The total land bank size is 267,914 square meters with basically plots in Costanta North, Ovidiu and Central Costanta. For further information on the properties, you can visit our web page, www.romreal.com. Please turn to the next page. Here we have the operational highlights. On the Lakeside, there was a sale of 16 plots during 2020, which has been a difficult year. And so far, in the first quarter, another 4 pots have been sold. Oasis, which is #3 on the table, the company is following exactly the same plan as the Lakeside in order to reauthorize the works for finalizing the blocks erected in order to add value to the whole plot and construction and bring utilities in the area. With regards to the Industrial Park, a conditional sale of the 3 plots announced in previous reports, of 1 -- of EUR 0.8 million has been terminated, and the company is trying to file a court case against the local water utility that has laid pipe works under the land without receiving the proper permissions from the company. Now Balada Market. The court case has been commenced as a local municipality withdrew an urbanization certificate that's been issued in 2015 without legal justification. The court case, of course, is making a sale of the Balada Market more demanding. Furthermore, the company is looking for additional ways of increasing the income received from the Balada Market. In Badulescu plot, the company is planning to regulate the plot for residential use. As we have seen with the success of the Lakeside project and also followed with the Oasis plot, Badulescu is ideal for residential use, and there is significant demand from the local community for buying plots in that area. And the plot is located very close to the Lakeside project. Please turn to the next page. With regards to the restitution claim, the company, as we announced before, successfully obtained a late 2020 final and irrevocable order of the Costanta Court of Appeal that provided restitution of the land in full. The piece is already sold for EUR 0.39 million to the buyer of the Mamaia North plots. And as soon as the official court verdict will be received in writing, the transfer of the plot will be done to the new owners, and the company will receive the cash. This is expected sometime during the second quarter of 2021. With regards to the tax authority contestation, the case has been on the Course of Appeal agenda on the 13th of January 2020, and the Court of Appeal is expected to issue a decision in respect of this legal process before the 1st of March of 2021, and we'll keep investors up-to-date of any developments. Please turn to the next page, macro developments in Romania. We've seen the gross domestic product dropping by 3.9% during the pandemic compared to 2019. In Q4 2020, the gross domestic product increased in an unexpected way by 5.3% compared to the third quarter of 2020. There have been almost 800,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and Romania is one of the leading European countries in terms of vaccination, ranking seventh among the EU member states. Please turn to the next page. Here we see an update on the real estate. Now total investment volume accounted at the end of 2020 was around EUR 600 million, which is almost half of what it was registered in 2019 but similar with the ones registered in 2015 that was a starting growth year. Capitalizing on the momentum gained in the previous year, 68% of the total investment volume was transacted during the first 6 months of 2020. Romania issued about 41,000 building permits for residential plots, which is slightly down 3% compared to the previous year. However, during December 2020 alone, building permits for residential projects were up by an annual almost 11% higher versus 2019, showing the appetite going into 2021 and also out of the coronavirus pandemic. Apartment price developments in the next page, please. We are seeing that prices in Romania have remained relatively flat during the fourth quarter. Also, the same in Costanta. Average prices remained also relatively flat and as we've seen in January. However, compared with October 2019, prices are about 1.8% higher. Please turn to the following page. This is a page With the top 20 RomReal shareholders as of the 23rd of February this year. This is placed here for your convenience only, and further information can be found on our web page. Here we have the main focus areas going forward. RomReal is focusing on land value-enhancing activities in order to improve the shareholder value and exit. This includes, amongst others, sales and marketing efforts and, if deemed required, some infrastructure investments. The ongoing tax dispute and 2 new cases, Balada Market and Industrial Park, adds uncertainty and reduces the financial flexibility, and any capital optimizing activities are currently not a realistic alternative. The management is working hard to ensure that all of these cases turn out positive as much as possible and within the legal framework. Thank you very much for joining us and for participating. This webinar will be uploaded to our homepage, www.romreal.com, for your convenience. Myself and Chairman of RomReal, Kjetil Grønskag, will be available for questions by email or phone. We wish you a very good day. Thank you.