Earnings Release • Nov 15, 2017
Earnings Release
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La Hulpe, 15 November 2017
The €60 million bond reached maturity and was repaid on 26 October 2017.
- PERSPECTIVES
Barring any major unforeseen events, ATENOR expects to achieve a positive result for the current financial period at least equivalent to that of 2016.
ATENOR is continuing the development of its portfolio, which currently includes 18 projects and represents a total of 750,000 m² to be developed on prime locations.
The construction works are continuing with the target of provisional delivery at end 2018. The structural works will be completed by the end of November 2017.
On the commercial side, 41% of the apartments and the two ground-floor retail spaces have been sold (excluding reservations).
At a press conference held on 3 October, Belgium's Deputy Prime Minister Didier Reynders pointed out that Brussels was ideally positioned to become the new headquarters of the EMA (European Medicines Agency), currently based in London. The One building was selected as Belgium's candidate. The final political decision is expected by 20 November 2017. Contacts are also being pursued (but on hold until 20 November) on multi-tenancy office leases.
The appeal to the Council of State brought against the building permit by well-known associations has not progressed.
Notwithstanding the existing permit for the construction of 42,000 m² of office space, it has been decided to postpone the launch of the project pending an (apparently imminent) call for projects from the European institutions. For the record, it is in this context that we proceeded in March of this year with the acquisition of the VDAB building and its direct neighbour, creating the possibility either to extend the Realex project, or to develop a new project of 10,000 m².
The redevelopment works started in late 2015 are coming to an end. The first half of the apartments has been delivered, and the remainder will follow in the weeks ahead. On the sales front, 82% of the apartments and the three office spaces have already been sold
1 This intermediate press release is intended to inform our shareholders, the financial markets and more generally the public within the context of the Edict of 14 November 2007 relating to the obligations of securities issuers, especially in the matter of periodic information.
The phase one construction works and the sales process relating to the building of 93 apartments (29% of which are already sold), 8,500 m² of integrated business services, 71 service flats (13% sold) and one rest home, i.e. 39,500 m² in total, are continuing for a delivery mid-2018.
We remind you that the subsidiary developing the rest home was subject to a share purchase agreement with an institutional investor in December 2015; the margin is recorded as construction works progress.
Furthermore, the application for the subdivision permit for phase two of the project, of a mainly residential nature introduced in May 2016, is still in progress. We remind you that this second phase incorporates the development contract launched by CITYDEV.BRUSSELS and won by ATENOR; it concerns 16,393 m² of apartments, 12,471 m² of them devoted to subsidized housing.
The master plan for the Midi district should be granted regulatory power on the basis of the provisions foreseen in the new COBAT recently adopted by the Brussels Parliament (Drafting of a Development Master Plan: PAD). On the issuing authority's suggestion, ATENOR will study, once the planning framework has been established, the launch of an architecture contest integrating the latest parameters set out in the master plan. Following this contest, and in parallel to the PAD's planning appraisal, the building and environmental permit applications will be filed as soon as possible, with a view to executing the Victor project, as indicated in the Government's programme.
Renovation works on the street-front offices (phase 1 – 4,000 m²) are continuing for delivery in autumn 2018.
In parallel, and in the wake of the decision by the Municipality to halt the PCAR procedure, discussions are progressing with the appropriate authorities to establish a guideline for the remainder of the program, the aim being to file a permit application as soon as possible for the second phase of the project, of a mainly residential nature.
The building, currently 80% let, generates a gross annual lease revenue of 1.1 million Euro. Contacts are in progress for the leasing of the remainder of the spaces.
We remind you that this building was acquired in 2015 for the purposes of a future redevelopment.
ATENOR and the buyer proceeded to the provisional acceptance delivery on 4 September 2017. Remarks made on acceptance are in the process of being remedied.
The first six blocks of the first phase (202 homes in total) are all (pre-)sold; the first three blocks have already been accepted, the third of them in October; the three remaining blocks are still under construction.
Following depollution work at the edge of the plot, a permit for two new blocks (64 homes) was obtained in October. Marketing of the 7th and 8th blocks has already begun, and pre-sales have already reached 51%.
In addition, the planning permit encompassing the other plots (phase 2) of the project and linking the commercial gallery to the new station, is awaiting approval by the Communal Council. Ultimately, it will enable the development of several hundred residential units, local retail shops and offices. As soon as it is obtained, a first building permit for offices will be submitted.
The first three blocks have been delivered and the delivery of the fourth one is scheduled for end November. To date, 71% of the 91 apartments have been sold. The construction of the 5th block (35 apartments) that started in December 2016, continues.
The works and the remediation of remarks are coming to an end; only a few apartments remain to be delivered as a result of modifications requested by the buyers.
Reminder: all apartments have been sold and 3 commercial premises are still for sale.
All the authorizations having been obtained in July, construction began at the same time as the excavation work. The building is 51% pre-leased following the signing of a lease with the Arηs IT group and the A3T consultancy, audit and accounting services company. Marketing of the remaining space will begin shortly.
LOT 46 BELVAL – Site de Belval, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (offices, housing and retail units – 14,300 m²)
In July 2017, ATENOR announced its selection following the architectural contest launched by AGORA, the agency responsible for urban development in Belval (Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg), for the development of plot 46 in the Square Mile district, part of the new residential and tertiary development hub across the districts of Sanem and Esch-sur-Alzette. The project consists of developing a 14,300 m² mixed-use building on a 2,880 m² site, comprising office space, housing and shops. The next stage will be to file a specific development plan or PAP (Plan d'Aménagement Particulier) in consultation with the local authorities.
On 7 July 2017, via a French subsidiary, ATENOR acquired an approximately 7,000 m² site on the banks of the Seine in the Paris La Défense perimeter area, in Bezons (France). The site already has a building permit for an office building but ATENOR submitted a new planning application in November for 35,000 m² of office space, optimising the sustainable development aspects of the building. The plan is to launch construction as soon as the permit is granted, which is expected to be in the second quarter of 2018.
After selling the Vaci Greens buildings A and B in the first half of 2017, ATENOR has now sold the Vaci Greens D building on future completion. Work on the building should be completed in January 2018.
In parallel, and under the terms of leasing guarantees to building buyers, we also signed new lease contracts for those A, B and D buildings, taking their occupancy rate to 96%, 95% and 25% respectively, leading to an additional positive impact on the 2017 results.
The architectural studies for the development of the final blocks (E and F) of the campus (45,000 m²) have been finalised. An application for a planning permit will be submitted shortly.
In general, the economic outlook remains favourable and continues to have a positive influence on the office rental and investment market.
ATENOR has acquired 19,000 sq.m of land on Boulevard Hungària, one of the main road corridors in Budapest connecting the city centre to the airport, which has excellent public transport links (tram, bus, metro) and shops catering to office workers. The site provides an opportunity to build a campus of 4 office buildings with commercial spaces covering approximately 85,500 sq.m, which will be developed in phases. Permit application for the first building is set to be submitted by the end of the year, allowing construction to begin during 2018.
To date, the three buildings (72,000 m²) are fully leased, with the final spaces still being fitted out for tenants taking up occupancy in phases.
Contacts are ongoing regarding the future sale of these buildings, although there are no plans to push through a sale in 2017, given the continuing upward trend in the investment market.
A permit application for 15,800 m² will be submitted in the next few months under a zonal urban plan or PUZ (Planul Urbanistic Zonal). A permit for the renovation of the protected building has been obtained and the renovation work will begin shortly.
The lease market has also shown its interest in this ideally located project.
ATENOR, through its Romanian subsidiary, completed the purchase of a new site in Bucharest (Romania). With a surface area of approximately 11,600 m², the site is located in the north western part of the city in the business district (Expozitiei/Piata Presei Libere) of the Romexpo exhibition centre. This will allow for the development of an office complex of some 44,000 m², demonstrating yet again ATENOR's determination to pursue innovative property projects in a buoyant Romanian property market. An initial planning application will be submitted in the first half of 2018.
Following various transactions over the 3rd quarter and to date, ATENOR s.a. holds 30.250 own shares. Although the policy is not strictly speaking a systematic buyback of own shares, Atenor seizes any opportunity for such buybacks in view of the value of the shares and the comfortable cash position.
The ATENOR GROUP INVESTMENTS subsidiary always owns 163,427 ATENOR shares as underlyings for the options plans (2015 to 2017) granted to ATENOR employees and service providers.
On 9 March 2012, the District Court of Luxembourg partially accepted this request, to the limit of 0.37 million Euro. On 24 May 2012, ATENOR appealed this ruling and set aside provisions in 2012 in the amount of 0.37 million Euro. The case is still pending on appeal. The pleadings will be heard on 8 January 2018.
The proceedings are still in progress before the Luxembourg district court. On 17 November 2016, the latter issued a "provisional" judgement assigning an additional appraisal assignment to an expert, which started on 26 April 2017. The parties were given the opportunity in September and October 2017 to put their points of view to the expert, whose work is ongoing. A preliminary report is expected at the beginning of 2018.
As ATENOR has stated since the beginning of these legal procedures and has repeatedly stated in its annual reports, ATENOR is confident that its position and its good faith will be recognised in court.
Publication of annual results 2017 8 March 2018 General Meeting of Shareholders 2017 27 April 2018 Intermediate Press Release 1st quarter 2018 17 May 2018 Publication of half-year results 2018 30 August 2018
For more detailed information, please contact Stéphan Sonneville SA, CEO or Sidney D. Bens, CFO. +32-2-387.22.99 - e-mail: [email protected] - www.atenor.be
ATENOR is a real estate development company quoted on Euronext Brussels. Through our urban planning and architectural approach, we aim to provide appropriate responses to the new requirements being imposed by developments in urban and professional life. Within this framework, ATENOR invests in large scale property projects meeting strict criteria in terms of location, economic efficiency and respect for the environment.
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