Rising in the east

Warsaw-based Global Trade Centre (GTC) reported high 2006 results that solidified its reputation as a leader among Central and Eastern European developers. Revenues increased six percent from 2005 to reach $101.5 (zł.300) million, with a record net profit of $253 (zł.750) million, up 76 percent from 2005. Total investments in land acquisition and new developments for commercial and residential projects amounted to $266 (zł.790) million.

The results were attributed to extensive growth in the local markets and abroad in countries like Romania, Hungary and, most recently, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Ukraine, in combination with a focused capital strategy that resulted in a 132-percent rise in share price year-on-year. The company also divested itself of older investments like the Mokotów Business Park, for $287 (zł.851) million - one of the largest transactions of the year in CEE office properties.

In 2006, GTC acquired 19 new investments with 725,000 sqm of potential building rights, while completing several business and residential properties, such as the expansion of Warsaw's Galeria Mokotów and the completion of the class-A America House residential complex in Bucharest. The total portfolio of properties under development and pipeline projects covers 1.455 million sqm across the region. Eli Alroy, chairman of GTC's supervisory board, stated that the company has "identified the growth potentials of the most attractive markets in Central and Eastern Europe and established fully operating local structures there, and now we are geared to benefit from booming regional property markets."

GTC is expected grow even more in 2007 as it continues to release more properties onto the markets in Poland and Eastern Europe.