One United Properties (BVB: ONE), the leading Romanian green developer of residential, mixed-use and office real estate, recorded a consolidated turnover of 136.7 million euro in the first half of 2022, a 54% increase compared to H1 2021.
The gross profit increased more than double year-on-year, reaching 78.8 million euro, while the bottom line raised BY 136%, amounting to 70.3 million euro. Despite continuous investments, the Group maintained a strong cash position of 102.7 million euro and a loan-to-value ratio of 25%.
“One United Properties registered excellent performance in the first semester of 2022, delivering superior returns to our shareholders. The residential and commercial divisions continued the positive evolution in 2022, resulting in the EBITDA being 11% above the value budgeted for the first half of 2022, and the net profit 23% higher. The excellent cash position recorded as of June 30th will be further supported with 51.5 million euro raised during the share capital increase, resulting in a negative net debt. All the indicators are pointing towards a strong position of our business as we look forward to increasing our investment and development activity in the coming period,”
said Victor Capitanu, co-CEO at One United Properties.
The increase in the turnover was supported by a 15% increase in revenues from residential property sales, which reached 78.2 million euro in H1 2022 versus 67.9 million in H1 2021. The net income from residential property increased significantly, by 74% year-on-year, reaching 38.4 million euro due to most of the developments getting closer to completion. This generated a 49% net margin, a 17pp appreciation compared to H1 2021.
In the first six months of 2022, One United Properties sold and pre-sold apartments, parking spaces, commercial spaces, and other units for a total of 66.5 million euro. As of June 30th, 2022, 80% of apartments currently under development were sold out, and the company has to receive additional cash in of 168.2 million euro until the end of 2023 from sales contracted by clients. In Q3 2022, the sales at two new developments, One Lake Club and One Herastrau Vista kicked off.
The rental income, which includes the income generated by the office as well as retail divisions has reached 4.7 million euro. The effect has been driven by the revenues coming from tenants at One Tower, which is fully leased out, and One Cotroceni Park Phase 1, leased out at 85% as of June 30th, 2022, however not yet generating full income since a significant part of tenants are still in the fit-out phase. The rental income also includes results generated by Bucur Obor, an emblematic shopping center in Bucharest with a gross leasable area of 26,000 sqm, where the Group holds a majority stake. The management estimates that the revenues from rental income will continue to grow quarter-on-quarter, bringing more significant weight in the second half of 2022, given the growing occupancy in the office developments as well as the acquisition of fully leased One Victoriei Plaza in July 2022.
“The second half of the year will be a period of intense activity as we finalize four developments, including phase 2 of the office component of One Cotroceni Park. Moreover, over the summer, we started sales at two new developments – One Lake Club and One Herastrau Vista. Before the yearend, we additionally estimate to start the sales at One Lake District, One High District, and One Floreasca Towers, subject to obtaining building permits. The files are already with the authorities for all these developments, confirmed to be 100% complete. We look forward to starting the construction in the coming period to match the growing demand for our superior quality housing in Bucharest,”
said Andrei Diaconescu, co-CEO of One United Properties.
The cash position of 102.7 million euro excludes the capital raised during the share capital increase, the operation that was closed on August 3rd, 2022, as the company raised 51.5 million euro. The capital increase consisted of two stages – first, where existing shareholders subscribed based on preference rights, and second, with new investors participating in a private placement. The operation was finalized on August 19th, 2022, when the newly subscribed ONE shares were handed over into the investors’ accounts.
The capital raised will strengthen the growth strategy of One United Properties, allowing the company to seize additional opportunities in the market. The new equity will be invested with priority in new residential developments located primarily in Bucharest. The company targets to invest the capital raised in ten new developments. The agreements for two locations based in Bucharest – One City Club and One Herastrau City – were already signed in July 2022, increasing the current landbank of the Group to approx. 217,000 sqm, with total aboveground construction rights of over 750,000 sqm, where over 5,200 apartments will be built in the next eight years. The agreements for the remaining eight new developments are expected to be signed over the next 12 months.
In the first six months of 2022, ONE was the 9th most traded stock on BVB. Between January 1st and June 30th, 2022, the average daily traded value for ONE shares was 250 thousand euro. As of June 30th, 2022, One United Properties had 5,510 shareholders, a 74% increase compared to the date of the IPO. In a volatile H1 2022, ONE shares outperformed the benchmark index BET, delivering a +1.6% share price appreciation vs an -8.7% decline of the BET index. In this context, on August 19th, 2022, FTSE Russell announced that One United Properties shares were upgraded within the FTSE Global Equity Index Series for Emerging Europe, moving from the small-cap to mid-cap category, reflecting the increased market capitalization as well as the solid liquidity of ONE stock. The index change will be effective as of September 19th, 2022.
Read the full H1 2022 report.