Globe Trade Centre S.A. (GTC) a well-established developer and property manager in the CEE and SEE regions, became the first Polish inward listed company when it listed on the main board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange today. The company successfully listed in the “Real Estate Holding and Development” sector. GTC’s primary listing will remain on the main market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
“I am very excited about our listing on the JSE today! As the first Polish company listing on the JSE, our balanced portfolio of EUR1.3 billion offers an attractive ‘total return’ proposition to South African investors in high quality assets in Poland and the capitals of high growth CEE and SEE countries, offering significant upward economic potential, as well as a unique, secured development pipeline with significant embedded NAV growth potential,” commented GTC CEO, Thomas Kurzmann.
GTC is an owner and developer of primarily Class A office and retail properties located in high demand nodes within Poland and the capital cities Budapest, Bucharest, Belgrade and Zagreb. As at 31 December 2015, the Company’s property portfolio comprised 25 prime commercial properties, including 20 office and five retail properties with a combined commercial space of approximately 524,000 sqm, three commercial projects under construction and four projects in the planning stage in Warsaw, Belgrade and Budapest respectively.
80% of the Company’s portfolio comprise of completed commercial properties and 8% of commercial properties under construction while the remainder of the portfolio includes commercial land bank intended for future development or sale. As at 31 December 2015, GTC’s completed properties in its three most significant markets i.e. Poland, Hungary and Romania, constitute 39%, 20% and 14% of the total book value of all completed properties.
“Our listing on the JSE is an exciting step in enabling our strategy to significantly increase our portfolio to over EUR2 billion within 36 months through value enhancing acquisitions, development activities and asset value improvements”.
“Although we are not raising capital from South African investors on this occasion, we believe this inward listing will increase the liquidity and tradability of our shares while increasing awareness of our current activities and future strategic initiatives amongst a new group of institutional investors,” said Kurzmann.
GTC was established in 1994 and listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2004. The company completed over 1,250,000 sqm of developments since inception in 1994. In 2015, the Company changed its strategy from a pure development approach to the developer and asset manager approach it follows today. The Company’s strategic objective is to expand its portfolio by acquiring yielding properties in Poland and in capital cities of selected CEE and SEE countries that have value added potential.
“GTC has a strong management team with over twenty years’ experience in chosen CEE and SEE markets offering noteworthy growth potential. The management teams in each capitals is backed by the experienced Management Board and prominent Supervisory Board”.
“We will continue to actively manage our current and future income-generating commercial property portfolio to maximize operating performance and efficiency, diversify tenant risk and enhance rental income whilst developing selected unique, high quality projects”.
“We look forward to establishing strong relationships with the South African investment community as we drive awareness of our ‘total return’ proposition through a unique mix of current activities and future strategic initiatives,” concluded Kurzmann.
