21st Mar 2019 11:12
LONDON (Alliance News) - Plaza Centers NV said on Thursday it saw a widened loss for 2018 as revenue sharply fell on much lower proceeds from the sale of its properties.
The real estate development company reported a pretax loss of EUR39.4 million, widened from EUR25.6 million in 2017, on revenue and gains of EUR2.6 million, down from EUR201.6 million.
This was mainly due to a significantly reduced gain from the disposal of its trading properties at EUR2.3 million, compared to EUR193.0 million in 2017. There was also the lack of rental income in 2018, compared to EUR7.9 million the prior year.
Plaza Centers sold off its last operating shopping and entertainment centres in 2017, including the Suwalki Plaza and Torun Plaza in Poland, and the Belgrade Plaza in Serbia.
In 2018, the company sold its shares in a special purpose vehicle holding land in Greece, and two plots of land in Lodz, Poland and Krusevac, Serbia.
As at December 31, Plaza Centers had a net cash position of EUR1.4 million, compared to EUR44.8 million the same date the year before, and the company has an outstanding obligation to bondholders of EUR80.5 million.
Looking ahead, Plaza Centers said there are "significant doubts" regarding its ability to serve its entire debt according to its current repayment schedule.
The bondholders at the end of January approved a partial deferral of the principal payment to July 1.
The company said it would continue to cut its costs, and complete the sale of assets, including the Casa Radio project in Romania, and its Bangalore and Chennai projects in India.
Shares in Plaza Centers were untraded in London on Thursday, last closing at 35.00 pence.
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