Eastern Europe-focused property developer and manager Globe Trade Centre, which took up an inward listing on the JSE last week, grew its income-generating portfolio 9% in the six months to June. The company’s net operating income increased 5% to €41m.

CEO Thomas Kurzmann said local institutional investors had expressed a desire to gain exposure to property companies in the Eastern European real estate sector, which offered better growth than many other markets in the world.

Plans were also on track to open a 64,000m² shopping centre, Galeria Pólnocna, in the Polish capital, Warsaw, at the end of August 2017.

The mall was the first major shopping centre to be developed in Warsaw in about eight years, Kurzmann said.

GTC, which has a market capitalisation of nearly R12bn, intended to pay its first dividend to South African investors in 2018, he said.

The company owns primarily A-grade office and retail properties in high-demand nodes within Poland and the capital cities Budapest, Bucharest, Belgrade, and Zagreb. As of June 30 2016, the book value of the group’s portfolio was €1.45bn. The group’s completed commercial properties accounted for 79%; commercial properties under construction made up 10%; a commercial landbank intended for future development or for sale accounted for 8%; residential projects for 2%; and assets held for sale accounted for 1%.

Kurzmann said GTC and its management team had spent much of the reporting period trying to boost the quality of its office assets. "GTC reported remarkable results for the first half of 2016. The realisation of our growth strategy became evident with our investment of €95m in value-accretive office properties, and a plot of land for an office development in the central business district of Budapest.

"We completed the development of the University Business Park B office building, and the Budapest team commenced preparation for the construction of the White House office building in Budapest. The construction of Galeria Pólnocna and two office buildings in the FortyOne project continue according to schedule."

GTC, listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2004, changed its strategy from development to one of development and asset management in 2015.

source: Business Day