ARTICLES LABELLED WITH TAG CEE

Hungarian property developer and investor Indotek Group currently owns real estate in Hungary and eight foreign countries and is actively screening opportunities in five others. The portfolio consists of office, retail, hotel and industrial properties. Property Forum asked Krisztián Hornok, Managing Director of International Transactions and Asset Management about the reasons for the large-scale expansion and ways of handling risks in this region.

The relocation of production facilities from far-away locations, such as Asia, is generating additional demand for industrial and logistics projects in CEE-based markets, with Romania being among the biggest beneficiaries, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report. 

Alexandros Diamantis, Managing Director of Medcity spoke with Property Forum about the company’s investments in Romania that reached €30 million to date and the new cities that have potential for new healthcare real estate developments.

As it was announced in April, JLL will soon transfer most of its existing business lines to iO Partners in Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. US-based real estate private equity fund manager Michael Stanton, Founder of iO Partners, talked to Property Forum about the details of the deal and shared the new company’s plans for the future.

Although anti-pandemic measures were still lingering on the Czech retail market at the beginning of last year, an early return to normal was expected. However, the war in Ukraine has fundamentally influenced further economic development, especially in the countries of Central Europe, including the Czech Republic. The rapid rise in prices (inflation increased by 15.1% year-on-year) and energy expenses were met by a further decline in already weakened customer confidence. How did this affect shopping centres in the Czech Republic? And what is the current sentiment on the market not only among customers but also the retailers themselves? CBRE tried to answer these questions in its annual Shopping Centre Index analysis, which is complemented by two current surveys focused on the development of customer behaviour and expectations on the part of retailers.

Given CPI Property Group’s recent acquisition of Immofinanz and S Immo, the company is more focused on implementing its integration strategy, rather than necessarily looking at new acquisitions, says Mindee Lee, Board Secretary and Senior Manager of Corporate Strategy at CPIPG, in an exclusive interview with Property Forum.

GTC’s adjusted EBITDA was €24 million in Q1 2023 (€26 million in Q1 2022), while net profit amounted to €12 million in Q1 2023 (€15 million in Q1 2022). The decrease mainly resulted from lower gross margin from operations and loss from revaluation, partially offset by lower finance costs and foreign exchange gain.

Lavinia Ioniță Rasmussen, Partner at NNDKP's Real Estate practice, spoke with Property Forum about the increasing investor interest in the renewable energy sector, the outlook for the real estate transaction market in 2023 and the law firm’s performance in the real estate segment.

Progress on ESG in the real estate industry has been seen since 2018 and sustainability considerations are shaping investment strategies and client demand, concluded speakers of the ESG in real estate panel of Romania ESG Forum 2023, organised by Green Forum and Property Forum last week in Bucharest.

CEE, much like the wider European market, continues to experience subdued market sentiment, while Romania remains a positive light in the region, the RICS Commercial Property Monitor for Q1 2023 reveals.