High sales of apartments, excellent results in leasing office buildings, sale of Gatehouse Offices building, development of the Resi4Rent platform and land purchases securing the future growth are the highlights of H1 2019 in Echo Investment. The company continues its growth and maintains a leading position in the markets in which it operates.

In Q2 2019, Echo Investment generated over PLN 36 million net profit, that was due primarily to the increase in the value of projects under construction. The result was also driven by apartments handed over to clients, rents received from the lease of office space in O3 Business Campus III in Krakow and Moje Miejsce I in Warsaw, as well as rents from in Libero in Katowice. 

‘Echo Investment enjoys a very stable financial situation and a low net asset-to-debt ratio, which as at June 30, 2019, was at 28%. The value of assets under construction steadily increases: in the second quarter it was 21% higher than in the corresponding period of 2018. At the same time, the value of housing projects increased by 63%. The Group maintains a high cash balance: at the end of June 2019, we had PLN 302 million on our accounts’ says Maciej Drozd, CFO of Echo Investment.

To secure the stable growth for the future, Echo Investment has acquired 109,200 sqm of the buildable land at the value of almost 40 mln EUR since the beginning of the year. In addition, land for over 190,000 sqm in Warsaw and Łódź was secured by the preliminary agreements. Currently the company is focused on developing multifunctional, ‘destination’ complex projects, new parts of cities attracting people to live in, work and spend their free time. This part of the business today amounts up to ca. 42% of the total sqm of projects under construction and projects in the pipeline.

‘Today, the ongoing ‘destination’ projects are Warsaw Brewery and Fuzja in Łódź. In Warsaw Brewery we are getting close to the end of construction works, so we devote a lot of attention to the central part of the project – the squares, a brewery inside the project, restaurants in the historical cellars creating a food hall and the greenery that will not only facilitate meeting places in the project but also create a new meeting points in Warsaw’ says Nicklas Lindberg, CEO of Echo Investment. And he adds ‘Construction works at Łódź-based Fuzja are proceeding according to schedule. The first residential buildings we put up for sale received a big interest from clients as they really like destination project consisting of both new and historical buildings.’

Thanks to the gradual extension of the offer Echo Investment can maintain high sales dynamics. Since the beginning of the year, we have signed on average 100 sale contracts per month. By the end of August, we sold 810 units, so the annual sales target of 1,300 premises is within reach. That will mean over 30% growth compared to 2018. In the same period, the company handed over the keys to 77 apartments. The full-year goal is to book the revenues and profits from the handover of approximately 1,250 apartments. 

Echo Investment holds office buildings under construction with a total leasable area of 140,000 sqm. In May, the construction of the first office building of Moje Miejsce in Warsaw was completed and the construction of the second phase of this complex was started. The construction of the React office building in Łódź started in the same month. In Katowice, as scheduled, two phases of the Face¬2Face complex with 47,000 sqm of lease area are being developed. 

The Resi4Rent platform - in which Echo Investment holds 30% stake - is growing. In September, the first project Rychtalska in Wrocław received an occupancy permit. By the end of this year, the platform will also receive an occupancy permit for the Wodna project in Łódź, while at the beginning of 2020 - for the second project in Wrocław - Kępa Mieszczańska at Dmowskiego street.

The most significant event for retail department in H1 2019, was the opening of Galeria Młociny in Warsaw. In July, the international retail chain Primark confirmed that it opens its first store in Poland in Galeria Młociny further increasing the attractiveness of this project. In the third quarter, nearly 40 brands opened their stores at Galeria Młociny, including Forever 21, New Balance and Lee Cooper, while the food court enriched its offer with the Menya Musahi restaurant.