Improvement in gross profit reflects focus on cost efficiency 

AFI Development, a leading real estate company focused on developing property in Russia, has today announced its financial results for the nine months ended 30 September 2016.

9M 2016 financial highlights

• Revenue for 9M 2016, including proceeds from the sale of trading properties, reached US$114.4 million (58% increase year-on-year):

-        Rental and hotel operating income declined 14% year-on-year to US$61.6 million, mainly due to the rouble depreciation

-        AFIMALL City contribution stood at US$48.2 million (9M 2015: US$54.6 million), down 12% year-on-year

-        Sale of residential contributed US$52.7 million

• Gross profit increased by 11% year-on-year to US$38.6 million (9M 2015: US$34.8 million),  reflecting management focus on efficiency and cost control
• Net loss for 9M 2016 amounted to US$55.7 million, against a loss of US$20.7 million in 9M 2015, largely due to valuation losses in H1 2016
• Total gross value of portfolio of properties remained stable at US$1.41 billion
• Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of 30 September 2016 stood at US$20.4 million

9M 2016 operational highlights

• At Odinburg, all of the pre-sold apartments in Building 1 have now been delivered to customers. The number of sale contracts signed amounted to 699 (97% of total) in Building 1 and 332 (47% of total)  in Building 2 as of 21 November 2016
• At the AFI Residence Paveletskaya residential development, the main construction phase and pre-sales of residential units which started in December 2015 continue to plan;  118 units (“flats” and “apartments”[1]) have been pre-sold to date
• AFIMALL City has managed to retain the majority of its tenants (despite large number or lease expirations in 2016) and welcomed several new retailers to the Mall during the third  quarter:

-     NOI declined to US$37.8 million in 9M 2016, from US$41.0 million in 9M 2015, mainly due to the rouble depreciation

In September 2016, AFI Development and VTB agreed to amend the terms of the loan facility agreements related to the Ozerkovskaya III and the AFIMALL City projects. The amendments included the deferral of the quarterly principal payments due on the loan facility agreements to maturity of each of the loans and the removal of the existing covenants to the Ozerkovskaya III Loan Facility. VTB has sought additional security in respect of the loans which now includes cross default provisions between each of the loans and a suretyship from Bellgate Constructions Limited (“Bellgate”), which owns the AFIMALL City project, in respect of the Ozerkovskaya III Loan Facility. For details please refer to Note 20 to the Financial Statements.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Lev Leviev, Executive Chairman of AFI Development, said:

“Having reached an agreement with the VTB Bank has enabled us to retain all of our assets and to regain focus on construction and marketing of our residential projects under development and on managing our yielding commercial properties. The gradual improvement in macroeconomic indicators, which we witnessed during the first half of the year, has continued into the third quarter. AFI Development remains well positioned to capitalise on future opportunities as further improvement in the Russian economy translates into more favourable operating conditions for our projects. AFI Development currently develops two residential projects: Odinburg (total gross buildable area of 821 thousand sq.m) and AFI Residence Paveletskaya (total gross buildable area of 133 thousand sq.m), while in Q1 2017 we plan to launch two other residential projects: Bolshaya Pochtovaya (total gross buildable area of 170 thousand sq.m) and Botanic Garden (total gross buildable area of 255 thousand sq.m).”