| 23 August 2013 PLAZA CENTERS N.V. RESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 JUNE 2013 PLAZA REPORTS OPERATIONAL PROGRESS AT ITS ACTIVELY MANAGED ASSETS AND ONGOING SUCCESS IN REALISING NON CORE ASSETS TO REDUCE LEVERAGE Plaza Centers N.V. (“Plaza" / “Company" / “Group"), a leading property developer and investor with operations in Central and Eastern Europe (“CEE") and India, today announces its results for the six months ended 30 June 2013. Financial highlights: • Reduction in total assets to €793 million (31 December 2012: €886 million), mainly as a result of non-cash, predominantly market-related impairment adjustments of €61 million booked in the period (decrease in the value of trading properties to €561 million (31 December 2012: €612 million)) • Total revenues more than doubled following the €16.7 million disposal of an Indian investment, and an increase in revenue from operating shopping centres, to €14.3 million (H1 2012: €14.1 million), despite a decrease in revenue at Fantasy Park (decrease of €1 million due to the closure of some gaming and entertainment units) and Koregaon Park, which was partly closed for the majority of the period • Loss for the six months of €81 million (30 June 2012: €10 million loss), stemming mainly from the non-cash €61 million impairment of trading properties (of which 42% relates to assets in Serbia, 21% to Czech Republic, 26% to India and 11% to Greece), fair value adjustments and the share in loss of associated companies • Basic and diluted loss per share of €0.27 (30 June 2012: €0.03 loss per share) • Cash position at the period end (including restricted bank deposits and available for sale financial assets) of €100 million (31 December 2012: €66 million) with working capital of €390 million (31 December 2012: €391 million); current cash position of circa €32 million following a €67 million bond principal and interest repayment on 1 July 2013 Operational highlights: • Plaza successfully completed its first exit in India following the sale of its 50% stake in a vehicle which primarily owns interests in an office complex project located in Pune, Maharashtra. The transaction valued the assets collectively at €33.4 million and, as a result, Plaza has received gross cash proceeds of circa €16.7 million in line with its holding • Improved occupancy levels achieved across the Company’s existing shopping and entertainment centres, with the overall portfolio occupancy rate increasing to 89% (31 December 2012: 88%) as at the reporting date, with the following notable successes: o At Zgorzelec Plaza, Poland, three contracted anchor tenants opened their stores in the second quarter, increasing the turnover by 65% and footfall by 42% compared to June last year o At Kragujevac Plaza, occupancy reached 100% a year since opening and turnover increased by 23% compared to June 2012 o At Riga Plaza, H&M was signed as a new anchor tenant, bringing the mall to almost full occupancy. Turnover and footfall at the centre has increased by 14% compared to June 2012 o At Torun Plaza, Poland, turnover increased by 24% and footfall rose by 20% compared to the corresponding period last year Key highlights since the period end: • Plaza has successfully completed the sale of 100% of its stake in a vehicle which owns the interest in the Prague 3 project (“Prague 3"), a logistics and commercial centre in the third district of Prague. Earlier this year, Plaza completed a successful application to change the zoning use of Prague 3 to a residential scheme. The transaction valued the asset at circa €11 million and, as a result, further to related bank financing and other balance sheet adjustments, Plaza received net proceeds of circa €7.5 million in cash • Plaza has also sold its interest in a SPV which owns a site in Roztoky, Czech Republic being held for a potential residential development. The site was sold for circa €2 million, resulting in net cash proceeds of €1.3 million after debt-related deductions Commenting on the results, Ran Shtarkman, the President and CEO of Plaza Centers, said: “We have seen sustained progress towards our key strategic and operational objectives in the year to date, driven by our continued commitment to the realisation of completed and non-core assets and the management of both the level of our debt and active assets in our portfolio. “Across our portfolio of operating shopping centres, we have seen increases against all of our three key performance metrics of occupancy, footfall and turnover during the first half of the year, with the most notable improvements shown at our assets in the more resilient economies in Central and Eastern Europe. Of these, the most outstanding performance has been at Zgorzelec Plaza in Poland which, further to recent asset management initiatives, significantly increased turnover and footfall in June by 65% and 42% respectively, compared to June 2012. The continued increase in overall occupancy rates throughout our portfolio is indicative of our ability to leverage our long-term, strong relationships with leading international retailers. “By contrast, the persistent uncertainty in the economic and consumer environment across Europe leads us to maintain our cautious approach to development, with the result that we will only press forward with our pipeline of projects when external funding becomes available. In addition, we will continue our track record of successful asset disposals in order to deleverage the Company and reallocate realised capital from stabilised completed projects and non-core assets to the core yielding assets in the portfolio, thereby creating additional capital value and driving income growth." For further details, please contact: Plaza Ran Shtarkman, President and CEO Roy Linden, CFO +36 1 462 7221 +36 1 462 7222 FTI Consulting Stephanie Highett/Nina Legge +44 20 7831 3113 Notes to Editors Plaza Centers N.V. (www.plazacenters.com) is a leading property developer and investor with operations in Central and Eastern Europe and India. It focuses on constructing new centres and, where there is significant redevelopment potential, redeveloping existing centres in both capital cities and important regional centres. The Company is dual listed on the Main Board of the London Stock Exchange and, as of 19 October 2007, the Warsaw Stock Exchange (LSE:"PLAZ", WSE: “PLZ/PLAZACNTR"). Plaza Centers N.V. is an indirect subsidiary of Elbit Imaging Ltd. (“EI"), an Israeli public company whose shares are traded on both the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in Israel and the NASDAQ Global Market in the United States. Plaza Centers is a member of the Europe Israel Group of companies which is controlled by its founder, Mr Mordechay Zisser. It has been active in real estate development in emerging markets for over 17 years. | |
