Polnord picks up properties

Gdynia-based Polnord has bought plots totaling over 500,000 sqm from two investment funds, Zachodni NFI and NFI Progress. The company is planning to issue new shares, which it will use to cover the price of the properties. Zachodni NFI will receive zł.270 million worth of shares, and NFI Progress zł.260 million. Together the two funds will gain a 16-percent stake in the company.

After the transaction takes place, Polnord will possess plots which will host up to 10,000 apartments. The company estimates its residential developments will generate a net profit of zł.3.2-3.6 billion within the next five years.

Among the newly acquired plots is a property located on ul. Grochowska in Warsaw's Praga. The plot is developed with  buildings of the former Polskie Zakłady Optyczne, which are to be adapted to lofts. A 8.1-ha plot on ul. Mińska will be developed with over 1,500 new apartments. Apart from Warsaw, there are also plots in Wrocław.

However, Polnord is not concentrating on residential developments alone. Last week the company signed a letter of intent with PKO Inwestycje. Together the firms want to build highways, hotels and stadiums prior to Euro 2012. As a consortium they stand a better chance of winning the largest tenders.

In Q1 2007, the company's revenues reached zł.24.5 million compared to zł.16.6 million in Q1 2006. Polnord's net profit in the first quarter of the year amounted zł.79.6 million, compared with a loss of zł.2.7 million in the same period last year.