ARTICLES LABELLED WITH TAG report

By the end of H2 2017 space under construction by Echo Investment increased to over 1 million sqm, from 677,000 sqm at the end of 2016. According to its latest financial report, the company is moving forward with a number of residential, office and retail developments.

Tenant demand for modern logistics and manufacturing space in Poland is growing at a rapid pace. In H1 2017, warehouse supply totalled 707,000 sqm while take-up hit a record high of 1,786,000 sqm, as revealed in Cushman & Wakefield’s latest report.

In H1 2017, the Wrocław office market recorded demand totalling nearly 92,000 sqm, mostly as a consequence of the high level of activity among tenants from the business services sector. JLL summarised the first half of 2017 on Wrocław's office market.

JSE listed Echo Polska Properties (EPP) released its interim results for the six-month period ended June 2017. During the period EPP successfully concluded €262 million in acquisitions, boosting the portfolio to €1.7 billion.

Free office space is dwindling in the Czech Republic. The office vacancy rate in Brno, as well as in Prague, has slipped below 10%. Both cities experience the lowest rate of vacant offices in the last decade. Brno recorded a sharp decline by 2.4 percentage points in H1 2017, while in the capital demand totalled 153,500 sqm in Q2 2017, up 45% on the previous quarter and 36.9% year-on-year. Overall, more than 370 deals were closed in Prague in H1 2017, many of which were pre-leases. In contrast, in Brno there was an 8% drop in lettings compared to H2 2016.

On 19th September 2017 the fifth edition of CEE Property Forum, organized by Property Forum in partnership with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) will gather leading real estate professionals and top executives from Central and Eastern Europe to analyse the potential of the regional real estate market from a global perspective. 70 speakers and more than 400 visitors will come together in Vienna, creating a unique networking opportunity.

Occupier and investment sentiment remains positive across all Central and Eastern European countries tracked by the RICS Commercial Property Monitor. Results for Q2 2017 show that Hungary and the Czech Republic continue to post the strongest overall results. The vast majority of respondents expect new investors to enter the market with the presence of local and CEE investors predicted to increase across the region in the year ahead.

Investment volumes in Central and Eastern Europe (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Russia and Turkey) reached €7 billion in H1 2017. This is 6% less than in the same period of the previous year.

Immofinanz recorded a significant increase in net profit to €105.3 million in the first half of 2017 (H1 2016: €-243.3 million). Net profit from continuing operations, i.e. excluding Russia, totalled €113.1 million (H1 2016: €-123.9 million). Rental income remained stable at €114.9 million (H1 2016: €115.9 million) despite the continuing sale of non-strategic properties. After an adjustment for new acquisitions, completions and sales (like-for-like), rental income rose by a sound 4.6% to €92.4 million. The results of asset management increased by 10.0% to €79.1 million, and financial results turned sharply positive at €104.4 million (H1 2016: €-58.0 million). This improvement resulted, above all, from positive valuation effects related to the investments in CA Immo and BUWOG.

It the first six months of 2017 GTC refinanced and concluded loans for almost €400 million through euro bonds offering, project loans and construction loans.