Victor Căpitanu, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of One United Properties spoke with Property Forum at Mipim in Cannes about the company’s residential development pipeline valued north of €1 billion and Bucharest’s capacity to provide high yields for real estate investors.

As development activity has slowed down, the focus is shifting to managing the existing stock across the whole commercial real estate market. Owners and other stakeholders have to adapt rapidly to serve changing demand from occupiers, said Benjamin Perez Ellischewitz MRICS, Principal at Avison Young in Hungary, while answering Property Forum’s questions at Mipim in Cannes.

Penta has announced its plans to open the first-ever fund for qualified investors. Legal and administrative actions leading to its establishment are currently underway, and details of the structure and functioning of the fund are going to be announced in the second half of this year.

The company recorded a 19% increase in NOI to €423 million (2022: €357 million), attributed to portfolio expansion and increasing rent levels. On a like-for-like basis, NOI rose by 6%, driven by lease indexation and strong re-leasing spreads, with new effective rents averaging 23% higher when compared to prior leases on the same space. An enhanced EBITDA margin of 83% was achieved, reflecting the company’s strategic focus on growth, efficient re-leasing, and operational efficiency.

Vlad Stanislav, Managing Director Romania at iO Partners, talked to Property Forum about the company’s expansion in the energy and infrastructure line of services and the higher yield environment in Romania’s property sector compared to other markets in CEE.

CPI Property Group has published its audited financial results for the financial year ended 31 December 2023, confirming a stable market environment with high occupancy figures. On the other side, the figures have shown a considerable net loss of €877 million, driven predominantly by a non-cash negative revaluation result. Property Forum asked CPIPG spokesman Jakub Velen to comment on the figures and provide an outlook for the year ahead.

Construction work on a record number of public buildings is planned by the Czech capital city this year. In addition to the city, the state is also participating as an investor in more than a dozen projects in the field of transport infrastructure or public space. The total investment costs of individual projects are reaching almost CZK 50 billion (€1,97 billion).

Solida Capital Europe announced the acquisition of the Grójecka 5 office building in the centre of Warsaw, spanning approximately 11,500 gross leasable area. The price has not been disclosed.

The Group aims to at least double its revenue to €183-215 million in 2028, triple its EBITDA (excluding revaluations) within five years to €112–132 million in 2028, nearly triple funds from operations (FFO) to €51–60 million in 2028, and at least double its net asset value (NAV) per share to €48–56 million in 2028.

The uneasy geopolitical situation of the recent years is surely not helping investors in Slovakia and the CEE region, that is a reality investors live in. However, the discussion of the first panel during Bratislava Property Forum 2024 has revealed that there is still some room for optimism.