Globe Trade ‘reliable on payouts’

Polish real estate developer Globe Trade Centre (GTC) has grown its portfolio value nearly 25% since its inward listing on the JSE in 2016.

The group would be a reliable dividend payer for South African investors who were seeking euro-denominated dividends, CEO Thomas Kurzmann said on Monday.

As at September 30, the group’s portfolio had a book value of €1.872bn (R31.77bn). This was up 24.8% from €1.5bn at the end of September a year ago. Net asset value per share grew 11% in the nine months to September, results released on Monday showed.

“The GTC Group has become a leading real estate investor and developer since it was established in 1994. We focus on Poland and three capital cities in eastern and southern Europe. We operate in Poland, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria. We also hold land in Ukraine,” said Kurzmann.

The group achieved a revaluation gain on Galeria Pólnocna, in Warsaw, worth €57m in the third quarter of 2017. It earned profit before tax of €134m in the nine months to September, compared with €71m in the comparable period a year earlier.

Commenting on Globe Trade Centre’s dividend policy, Kurzmann said the company’s objective was to create value from actively managing a growing commercial real estate portfolio in central eastern Europe and southeastern Europe, supplemented by selected development activities.

Following the growth and results achieved in 2016, Globe Trade Centre distributed 0.27 zloty per share from 2016 profit in the form of a dividend. The payout was guided by, among other things, the availability of cash, the funds from operational growth plans, the company’s capital expenditure requirements and planned acquisitions as well as the share of external financing in overall equity.

“GTC believes that the further realisation of its growth strategy will provide for a double-digit dividend growth in the future, starting from 2017 onward,” said Kurzmann.