Atrium European Real Estate is focusing on the mature markets of Central and Eastern Europe for new acquisitions and extensions of existing shopping centres.
Atrium European Real Estate is focusing on the mature markets of Central and Eastern Europe for new acquisitions and extensions of existing shopping centres.
In recent months, the company has agreed a number of acquisitions including the 41,200 m² Focus Mall in Bydgoszcz, Poland for €122 mln and the 20,900 m2 AFI Palace in Pardubice, Czech Republic for €83 mln.
It also recently opened its largest greenfield project, Atrium Felicity Shopping Centre in Lublin, Poland, welcoming over 67,000 visitors on its opening day. ‘Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia now account for 80% of the market value of our income-producing portfolio,’ the company’s vice-chairman Rachel Lavine told PropertyEU in an interview that appears in the April edition of PropertyEU Magazine.
Aside from the three core CEE markets, Atrium is also active in what Lavine describes as secondary CEE markets like Romania and Hungary which account for 5% of the market value. Russia accounts for 15% of the market value of the portfolio with seven properties valued at €369 mln at end-2014.
This marks a decline of almost 20% on the valuation for end-September 2014, indicating the worsening volatility of the Russian market following the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis a year ago. While the Russian centres generated 4.5% net rental growth across the portfolio last year, the effect of geo-political tensions, lower oil prices and rouble devaluation began to impact towards the end of November.
The company will continue to monitor the situation closely while evaluating the potential impact on the group’s cash flow and portfolio valuation, CEO Josip Kardun said. ‘We are working closely with our tenants in Russia at this challenging time and our focus is firmly on helping them trade through this period while maintaining our own occupancy.'