Penta Investments, a Central European investment group, has announced the consolidated figures for the year 2008. According to the IFRS international standards, total assets of Penta Investments reached 2.3 billion EUR. The group's total equity reached 725 million EUR and the consolidated profit topped out at 61.5 million EUR. Consolidated revenues of the group reached 1.9 billion EUR. Even during the financial crisis Penta Investments managed to maintain a low debt equity ratio of 1.2:2 (debt vs. equity).
“The financial crisis has brought us new opportunities, mainly in the Central European market where we belong to a group of the most active investors. While starting new acquisitions, we want to focus on projects where we can apply our successful experiences from the revitalization of other companies. Another pillar of our investment activities are transactions connected with the territorial expansion of currently existing projects. The goal is to consolidate the market,” said Jaroslav Haščák, Managing Partner of Penta Investments for the Buy-Out division.
The profits of Penta Investments were mainly influenced by so called start-up projects that did not generate positive cash-flow in 2008. Another significant factor were the initial real estate investments, where the profitability is expected after 2012.
“Projects such as Bory (shopping-entertainment centre in Lamač, Bratislava) or Čulenova (preparation for development in the centre of Bratislava) are in preparation stages, where we have already invested tens to hundreds of millions of Euros. The Digital Park project, an administrative centre in Bratislava, represents a major success for us. This project has been in high demand among renters even during the financial crisis,” said Jozef Oravkin, Managing Partner for the Real Estate division of Penta.
The most financially substantial portion of Penta’s investments lies in the Czech Republic (46%), Slovakia (39%) and Poland (12%). In terms of sectors, the most significant is retail (44%), manufacturing (22%), real estate development (15%) and health care (10%).
Today Penta is working on investment projects based mainly in Poland, and further on in Romania and Bulgaria. One or two new acquisitions are expected to be added by the end of 2009.