Central European shopping centre specialist Atrium European Real Estate has sold five retail assets in Poland to the Metropol Group as part of its portfolio rotation and repositioning strategy.
Financial details were not disclosed, but Avison Young and JLL, which advised Atrium on the sale, said it was one of the year’s largest retail investment transactions in the convenience sector and the first to have closed since lockdown in Poland.
Atrium, which this week reported H1 earnings figures, said the package of Polish centres was part of a total of €75 mln of transactions to be carried out in the first half of 2020, including the sale of the Atrium Duben shopping centre in Slovakia in January.
The assets, known as the Tyrion portfolio, have a total GLA or around 45,000 m2 and consist of a standalone Media Markt building in Gdynia, Atrium Olkusz, Atrium Swietochlowice, Atrium Siemianowice and Atrium Gama in Radom. Tenants include international and national brands such as Bricomarche, OBI, Carrefour, Biedronka, Rossmann and Media Expert.
'The five assets sold by Atrium are well established convenience schemes with a great tenant mix and superb performance,' said Piotr Lopusinski, senior investment consultant for Avison Young. 'As a result, they remained resilient to recent market turmoil, what was confirmed by the fact that footfall returned to the average levels from the beginning of the year within just two weeks after shopping centres’ reopening after the lockdown. This transaction proves that investors are still interested in retail properties, provided that they meet certain characteristics.'
Atrium reported a 22.8% decline in net rental income (NRI) to €71.4 mln over the first six months compared with the year-earlier period, as the coronavirus impacted the group's operations.
Excluding the €12 mln impact of Covid-19 - relating mainly to the rent and service charge relief imposed by the government in Poland for the lockdown period - and a €10 mln impact of net disposals, NRI increased by €0.7 mln. On a like-for-like basis, NRI fell by 14.3%. Excluding the impact of Covid-19, like-for-like NRI increased by 1.0%.
Atrium said that including its shopping centres in Russia, 87% of the group GLA was now open again and business was gradually recovering towards pre-Covid-19 levels.
Liad Barzilai, CEO of Atrium Group, said: 'The COVID-19 pandemic has had and continues to have an impact on our business. With lockdown measures easing since early May and 87% of the portfolio now open for business, we are continuing to see a recovery towards pre-COVID levels.
'The crisis has accelerated many of the trends that were already impacting our sector and have been the driving force behind our strategy and portfolio repositioning over the past years. However, humans are inherently social creatures and we remain firm in our belief that our portfolio of urban centres serving their local communities’ needs still has an important place in the future for both retailer and consumer alike.'
He added: 'We remain committed to our strategy of diversifying into the residential for rent sector, in our key markets of Poland and the Czech Republic, which continue to benefit from strong underlying fundamentals despite the current global crisis. Finally, I would like to reiterate that the health and safety of our employees, customers and consumers remains our paramount priority in these difficult times.'
