August 21 (SeeNews) - Real estate developer AFI Europe Romania said on Tuesday its net operating income (NOI) rose 9% on the year to 27 million euro ($30.8 million) in the first six months of 2018.
AFI Europe Romania's total portfolio value rose by 11% on the year in the first half, reaching 818 million euro, the company said in a press release.
"We continue to expand with new acquisitions such as the land near AFI Cotroceni and AFI Park, but also by building on the land we own with projects such as AFI Tech Park and AFI City in Bucharest as well as in other parts of the country, with projects such as AFI Brasov. We are constantly improving the performance of our properties and looking for new opportunities to strengthen our solid market position," CEO Doron Klein said.
AFI Palace Cotroceni Shopping Mall in Bucharest, the company’s largest and most important asset, generated a 8.2% higher NOI in the first half of the year, of 8.1 million euro.
AFI Cotroceni retailers' sales, excluding the hypermarket, rose 7.5% on the year during January-June. Footfall to the mall rose by 9% on the year to over 55,000 visitors per day, while the occupancy rate is 98% for the currently 90,000 sqm GLA shopping mall.
AFI Palace Ploiesti shopping mall NOI rose 10% on the year in the first half to 2.4 million euro. The occupancy rate of the shopping mall in the southern city of Ploiesti is now 99%.
Office project AFI Park, a 70,000 sq m gross lettable area (GLA), is leased 99% and the value of the five office buildings is 175 million euro according to the valuation made in 2018. The NOI of AFI Park rose by 11% on the year to 6.5 million euro in the first six months of the year.
The construction works on AFI Brasov are advancing and the mall and the offices will open during 2019. The mall, which already has an occupancy rate of 85%, will spread on an area of 45,000 sqm GLA and will include 200 shops and retail units.
In June, AFI Europe finalised the acquisition of a 43,000 sq m land plot in Bucharest in a transaction worth 23 million euro and has started the construction of AFI City, its first large-scale residential project in Romania, in which it plans to invest 16 million euro.
AFI Europe, a subsidiary of AFI Properties, is a leading real estate development, management and investment companies, which has been operating in Central and Eastern Europe since 1997. AFI Europe operates in Romania since 2005.
($= 0.8764 euro)