The gross profit reached 105.9 million euros, a 9% increase excluding the one-off gain from Bucur Obor’s bargain purchase of 19.1 million euros recognized in 2022. The net profit amounted to 89.6 million euros, an increase of 8% compared to 2022, excluding the one-off.
„Despite the industry’s hurdles, we maintained our loan-to-value ratio at 28%, significantly below the European real estate average of 50%. Our ability to sustain such low leverage throughout 2023 while expanding our portfolio is a clear indicator of our operational efficiency, strong balance sheet and prudent management, therefore setting excellent premises for 2024 as another year of sustained growth for our company”, said Victor Căpitanu, co-CEO at One United Properties.
Revenues from the residential segment reached EUR226.9 million in 2023, a 45% year-on-year increase driven by a diverse residential offering. The value of residential sales, meaning the revenue recognized within the year for the sales made in prior years based on the level of the completion, is an absolute record for the Group, overpassing for the first time the EUR200 million mark within a single year.
At the level of sales and pre-sales of units, despite a 16% decrease in the number of residential sales in Bucharest in 2023, One United Properties defied market trends by increasing residential unit sales by 59% compared to 2022.
Based on the contracts signed with clients as of December 31st, 2023, One United Properties expects additional cash inflows of 295 million euros by 2025.
Nonetheless, the revenue and the profit of all sales made in 2023 are not fully reflected in the Group’s results for 2023 due to the revenue recognition applied by One United Properties. Consequently, the net margin of the residential segment reached 27.4% for 2023, a decrease vs 41.4% registered in 2022 as 3 new large-scale developments in the early stages of construction were added to the sales portfolio between Q4 2022 and Q3 2023, therefore temporarily affecting the net margin.
The margin from residential sales is expected to continue increasing over the following years as these large-scale developments – One Lake Club, One High District and One Lake Club – progress. One United Properties targets a long-term margin of 35% across all its residential developments.
Rental income, including revenues from services to tenants, increased 62% to 25.9 million euros in 2023, driven by revenues from tenants at One Tower, One Cotroceni Park Office 1, One Victoriei Plaza, and Bucur Obor. One United Properties leased and pre-leased 34,200 sqm of office and retail spaces in 2023, an 8% year-on-year increase driven by the record agreement signed with Infineon Technologies for a 20,000 sqm turnkey office development. Additionally, One United Properties exited four rental properties in 2023, totalling 41.7 million euros, generating 5 times multiple on the capital invested, with IRR ranging between 30%+ to 60%+ per exit.
The Group closed 2023 with a strong cash position of 84.6 million euros, down 26% versus 2022, due to significant development activity carried out in 2023, with developments under construction amounting to more than 1.2 billion euros in gross development value as of yearend. In 2023, One United Properties completed 4 developments with a GDV of 350.4 million euros and managed 9 other construction sites with future developments of 4,241 units and over 15,000 sqm of commercial spaces. As a result, the combined value of projects completed and under construction exceeded 1.5 billion euros in 2023.
The gross loan-to-value ratio of One United Properties amounted to 28% as of the end of 2023, stable since 2022, proving solid financials and low leverage of the Group compared with the European peers. As of December 31st, 2023, net debt was EUR122 million, 12% of the total assets, which reached the historical value of 1 billion euros.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)