Orco Property to list in Warsaw, Budapest in 'five to eight weeks'

Orco Property to list in Warsaw, Budapest in 'five to eight weeks'

	Published : Tue, 03 Apr 2007 19:02 By : Agencies Print this Story

BUDAPEST (AFX) - Paris and Prague-listed Orco Property Group will carry out secondary listings on the Warsaw and Budapest stock exchanges in 'five to eight' weeks president and CEO Jean-Francois Ott in a phone interview.

Ott said that the proceeds of 100 mln eur would be used to fund on-going developments in the region, including a flagship high-end retail outlet in the former building of the Budapest Stock Exchange.

'We decided on the move in order to give investors in Hungary and Poland an opportunity after positive experiences in Prague,' said Ott, adding that the placing will only be available to institutional investors.

Ott said that the property market in Central Europe still offers significant growth potential on a par with success stories in western Europe such a Barcelona.

According to Ott, the growing wealth of the middle classes will fund much of the future development in the region.

Ott added that he is confident Orco will match previous growth in the years ahead.

The Luxembourg-based company announced recently that net profit jumped to 96.7 mln eur last year from 54.5 mln in 2005 as net asset value doubled to 99.4 eur per share.

The company is proposing a 25 pct dividend increase, to 1 eur per share, and expects 2007 sales of around 223 mln eur, combined with 'strong growth' in net asset value.

Orco will be the only foreign company listed in Budapest. Based on its anticipated market capitalization, Orco expects that it could eventually be eligible for inclusion in the BUX index in Hungary and the WIG index in Poland.

Ott added that Orco is actively considering acquisitions to fund growth as it has done in the past.

edward.krudy@thomson.com

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