According to a press release, in cooperation with Unibail Rodamco the company has finalised a € 205m loan agreement to refinance the Galeria Mokotow shopping centre located in Warsaw. and Unibail Rodamco, each holding 50% of the shopping mall, secured one of the largest real estate financing loans in CEE from a consortium of German banks, including Berlin-Hannoversche Hypothekenbank AG and Westdeutsche Immobilien Bank AG. The loan has a five-year maturity, with a possible two-year extension. Interest on the loan is based on EURIBOR plus 225bp. The refinancing was based on a valuation of € 378m for Galeria Mokotow, which implies an initial loan-to-value ratio of 0.54. Net proceeds from the loan after repayment of existing credit for the shopping centre will amount to around € 120m and according to GTC’s CFO this will further increase the firm’s cash resources.
Our view:
Real estate developers have only limited access to external financing under the current market realities. We therefore view positively the fact that managed to secure such a large amount of debt. The refinancing transaction demonstrates the top quality of GTC’s project as well as the firm’s established relationship with banks and its strong financial standing. Access to such a large amount of debt was additionally supported by the fact that the initial loan-to-value ratio for Galeria Mokotow stood at a low 54%. The recently reported agreement confirms our thesis that some revival has taken place on the region’s credit market for commercial property. However, we believe that access to financing is available primarily for the most established players and that it is still too early to announce a permanent recovery for the real estate sector as a whole. We expect the news could have some positive impact on the stock’s price today.