The real estate investment company INVL Baltic Real Estate had a net profit for the first nine months of this year of EUR 0.9 million, or EUR 0.02 per share. Compared to the same period last year and excluding the impact of one-off transactions in 2015 (the sale of UAB INTF Investicija and the acquisition of the Dommo logistics centre in Latvia), the company's net profit increased by 92 per cent. For nine months of 2015, the net profit of INVL Baltic Real Estate including one-off transactions was EUR 1.9 million.
The company's revenue in January-September was EUR 4.6 million, of which EUR 2.7 million was leasing income from properties it owns. Compared to the same period last year, revenue grew by 11 per cent and revenue from the leasing of owned properties rose by 25.6 per cent.
INVL Baltic Real Estate's equity capital at the end of the third quarter was EUR 27.5 million, or EUR 0.42 per share.
"We're pleased with the company's nine-month results. At this stage we're giving a lot of attention to adapting the Vilnius Gates complex we acquired this year to the needs of the market. Very soon we'll start feasibility studies on reconstruction and development at other properties we own in Vilnius – the IBC Business Centre on Seimyniskiu Street and the office building on Vilniaus Street," said Egidijus Damulis, the CEO of INVL Baltic Real Estate.
After reforms at the Vilnius Gates service and business centre, premises on the ground floor will be dedicated to restaurants and other service providers, while the first floor will be dedicated to service centres and exclusive offices. It's estimated that once the planned works are completed, the leasable area will increase by about 1,000 sq. m. "We're pleased that, following the opening in July of the 'Rise Vilnius' innovation and IT startup space, companies working in Fintech and other areas are taking an interest in Vilnius Gates," Egidijus Damulis said.
Based on a contract signed in late October, one of Swedbank's non-financial service subsidiaries will begin to occupy 400 sq. m. of premises at Vilnius Gates on Gyneju Street already at the start of next year. Pending successful completion of negotiations with other potential tenants for the site, it's planned that by the end of this year more than 3,000 sq. m. of newly renovated premises should be leased out, which would bring the property's overall occupancy to more than 70 per cent.
Following its 9-million-euro share offering in March of this year, INVL Baltic Real Estate is seeking the status of a closed-end investment company (UTIB). In May the company's board applied to the Bank of Lithuania for a UTIB license. The company would operate with that status for 30 years with extension possible for a further 20 years, according to a new draft of its Articles of Association on which shareholders will vote on 10 November. Upon its becoming a UTIB, the management of INVL Baltic Real Estate would be transferred in a trust arrangement to INVL Asset Management, part of Invalda INVL – one of the leading Baltic asset management groups.
INVL Baltic Real Estate manages 58,000 square metres of real estate at strategically attractive locations in Vilnius and Riga valued at EUR 52 million: office and commercial premises at the Vilnius Gates complex, the IBC Business Centre near Konstitucijos Avenue, office buildings in the Old Town on Vilniaus Street and in Siaures Miestelis, office and warehouse premises in Kirtimai, and the Dommo Business Park manufacturing, warehouse and office complex beside the Riga bypass. The company's shares trade on the Nasdaq Vilnius exchange.