One United Properties SA (ONE) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, and welcome to One United Properties' conference call for presenting the preliminary financial results for 2024. My name is Zuzanna Kurek, and I'm Investor Relations Manager at One United Properties. I am joined on this call by Victor Capitanu, Executive Board Member and Co-Founder of One United Properties; and Cosmin Samoila, CFO at One United Properties. Before we begin, I would like to mention that this call is being recorded and that a recording of this call will be updated on One United Properties' website later today. As stated in the call invite, by joining the video conference, you automatically and implicitly consent to being recorded. If you do not consent to being recorded, please leave the call. In terms of organizational aspects, let me present to you the setup of this call. Firstly, we will share with you the preliminary financial and operational highlights of 2024, which will be presented by our Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Victor Capitanu; together with the CEO of Residential Division, Beatrice Dumitrascu; CEO of Office division, Mihai Paduroiu; and our CFO, Cosmin Samoila. [Operator Instructions] I will be moderating the session, and therefore, for the sake of those who will be watch the replay, I will be reading all of the questions out loud before addressing them. Your questions today will be answered by Victor Capitanu; our CFO, Cosmin Samoila; or by myself. Please note that today's presentation is focused only on the preliminary 2024 results, and therefore, we will not be answering any questions related to our 2025 budget or annual target. Consequently, we kindly ask you to refrain from putting such questions forward during this call. One United Properties' 2025 budget will be published by a current report later this month around March 28, ahead of our General Meeting of Shareholders scheduled for April 29, 2025. Finally, even though I just stated, we will refrain from commenting on our 2025 budget, I would like to mention that we may be making forward-looking statements today during this call regarding the future performance of One United Properties, and that actual results may differ materially. We encourage you to review the disclaimer that we have included in the presentation, which you can see right now on the screen. This disclaimer applies equally to all the statements made in today's call. Thank you for your patience. And I would like now to kick off the call and invite you to watch our video presentation. [Presentation]

Hello. I'm Victor Capitanu, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of One United Properties, and welcome to our earnings call, presenting the preliminary 2024 results. Today, together with my colleagues, Beatrice Dumitrascu, Mihai Paduroiu and Cosmin Samoila, we'll walk you through the key financial results of 2024, highlighting our performance across residential and commercial segments, as well as our financial and development activity. Before we dive into last year's numbers, I want to take a step back and look at the bigger picture, how One United Properties has evolved over the last 5 years. Our company has grown from a local luxury residential developer into Romania's leading premium real estate player, expanding our portfolio, financial strength and market reach. Over the past 5 years, One United Properties has delivered sustained and strategic growth, driven by strong demand for our premium residential developments and expanding commercial portfolio and disciplined financial management. Our total assets more than tripled from EUR 350 million in 2020 to EUR 1.1 billion in 2024, reflecting our continuous investment in large-scale developments. Equity has grown fourfold, increasing from EUR 169 million to EUR 697 million, reinforcing the company's financial resilience and strong capital base. Real estate assets expanded significantly from EUR 260 million to EUR 786 million, underlining our commitment to both high-end residential and long-term income-generating assets. Our loan-to-value ratio improved from 30% in 2020 to 27% in 2024, ensuring we maintain a conservative financial structure with low leverage compared to European peers. In residential development, we have scaled our sales volume and enhanced margins, adapting to market cycles while maintaining premium quality standards. Residential sales grew from EUR 90 million in 2020 and to EUR 223 million in 2024, nearly 2.5x growth in just 5 years, showing consistent market demand for our developments. Our residential margin evolved in line with the development cycle, increasing from 34% in 2020 to 40% in 2022, before adjusting to 27% in 2023 and rising again to 29% in 2024. As a principle, One United Properties targets a minimum 35% margin for each development, with the annual net margin depending on the sales mix and the blend of the different stages of construction across the residential portfolio. This margin evolution reflects the natural construction and sales cycle with lower margins when a new wave of development enters the sales pipeline and the expansion as projects near delivery. As a result, we anticipate further margin growth towards 2026 as high-value developments move to completion. In 2020, our business was almost entirely focused on residential development with only EUR 300,000 in rental income. Fast forward to 2024, and our income from rental assets reached EUR 30.4 million, demonstrating the success of our strategy to develop high-quality commercial assets. The commercial segment now represents an important and growing pillar of our business, providing recurring revenue streams and balancing our cash flow between sales-driven and income-generating assets. This shift ensures that One United Properties is no longer just a development-focused company, but a long-term investor in high-quality rental properties. Total turnover has followed a steady growth trajectory over the last 5 years, multiplying more than 2.5x from EUR 111 million in 2020 to EUR 285 million in 2024. The fluctuations in annual revenue reflect the natural evolution of the development cycle with revenue recognition tied to project deliveries and construction progress. As our portfolio matures and more large-scale developments are completed, we expect continued turnover expansion driven by residential sales and increasing contribution from rental income and profits from development of rental properties. Additionally, fair value gains fluctuate from one reporting period to another, mainly due to the fluctuation in interest rates, but also fluctuation of number and size of rental assets owned. Since we listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange in July 2021, we have raised more than EUR 173 million by issuing more shares and not by selling shares, which is the typical IPO in Romania. All these amounts being mostly invested in the direct development of the city of Bucharest and our country, with massive multiplication effect in the economy and all across the supply chain and all stakeholders involved with One United Properties. Looking at our historical results, but also the resilience we have shown in more challenging recent years, such as 2020, when COVID started and economy contracted massively; 2023, when abrupt increase of interest rates started; and 2024, which was an election year with already increased interest rates, I am confident it is clear now that our ability to scale the business while maintaining financial discipline is our key differentiator. Over the last 5 years, we have quadrupled our scale while keeping a healthy balance sheet, strong cash flow and controlled leverage. I have to add that more challenging years for the industry may prove a long-term opportunity for our company due to our long-term vision, quick decision-making process and a clear-headed mindset. Beyond the numbers, our impact on the Romanian economy has been substantial. In 2024 alone, we employed 17,000 people across 13 active construction sites, contributing to urban development and job creation in Bucharest, Mamaia, Constanta and Magura, Buzau. We have more than 665,000 gross square meters under construction, compared with 572,000 gross square meters already delivered to our clients in all the years since our company was founded. In 2025, we will deliver to our clients as many apartments as we delivered in all the years before, a record that was last time achieved in 2023. The gross development value of all the ongoing construction sites are EUR 1.5 billion, with a significant multiplying effect in the local and national economy and in the GDP of the country, equivalent to 0.42% of the total national GDP without multiplying effect, and 1.7% of the Bucharest GDP. Looking ahead, we remain committed to expanding both our residential and commercial portfolios, increasing our rental income base and delivering high-quality developments that enhance Romania's urban landscape and raise the living and working standards of the Romanian people. With that, I'll now pass it over to Beatrice Dumitrascu, who will take you through the performance of the residential division and the key milestones achieved by the residential sales team in 2024.

Hello. I'm Beatrice Dumitrascu, the CEO of the Residential Division at One United Properties. I'm proudly representing an authentic 100% Romanian brand that we have built from 0 to top 25 in the country in only 10 years. According to Brand Finance, One is the only exclusive, aspirational, prestigious brand in top 50 brands of Romania and also the youngest of them. One United Properties is more than just a brand, it is also a solid business that has performed remarkably over the years. Last year was no exception. Today, I'll walk you through our 2024 residential sales results, highlighting the key development sales dynamics and what's ahead for 2025. 2024 was a defining year for our residential business as we continue to navigate the dynamic market shaped by high inflation, geopolitical uncertainty and a complex local political landscape. Despite these challenges, our residential sales teams delivered solid results. For 2024, we reported total sales and pre-sales of EUR 228 million, covering 84,000 square meters of residential and commercial spaces. This includes 850 apartments and commercial units, along with 1,270 parking spaces and other unit types that our sales team sold to a diverse portfolio of our clients. Our sales decreased slightly from 2023, when we sold 86,000 square meters of surface of residential and commercial spaces for a total of EUR 243 million. This value comprised 980 apartments and commercial units as well as 1,557 parking spaces and other unit types. Our best-selling developments in 2024 were: One Lake District with 468 units sold across Phase 1 and Phase 2, One Lake Club with 122 units sold and One High District with 78 units sold. These sales highlights the continued demand for high-value properties in advanced construction stages, reinforcing the strength of our portfolio. At the same time, the exceptional success of One Lake District Phase 2 demonstrates our ability to cater to a diverse range of buyers, while maintaining a dynamic pricing strategy. The average sales price per square meter in 2024 remains stable compared to 2023. This was influenced by the integration of 867 units from One Lake District Phase 2, which was the only new development added to our sales portfolio in 2024. In parallel, we focused on selling units in development already in advanced construction stages. The amount due from contracts signed as of December 31, 2024, totaled EUR 343 million, which will be received as additional cash payments until 2027. In 2024 alone, we collected EUR 174 million in cash from clients for contracted units. Looking ahead, 2025 is said to be the most active year in our history. We have over 4,000 units under development and we are preparing to deliver 2,300 units, almost the same number we delivered in the past 10 years combined. Such performance was last time achieved in 2023 when we delivered to our clients more units than all the previous years combined. Even as we prepare for this record-breaking year, our focus remains stronger than ever on delivering highly desirable communities with high-quality homes that meet the evolving needs of our buyers, while ensuring strong financial performance and operational efficiency. With that, I'll hand it over to my colleague, Mihai Paduroiu, who will take you through our Commercial division's performance in 2024.

Hello. My name is Mihai Paduroiu, CEO of the Commercial division at One United Properties. I'll take you through our 2024 performance in the Office and Retail segments covering leasing activity, key commercial projects and what's in our current development pipeline. In 2024, we continued to expand our commercial portfolio, achieving a headline rent of EUR 28.2 million, marking a 20% increase compared to 2023. Despite the challenges in Europe's office market, leasing activity in Bucharest remained strong, with 12,850 square meters of office and retail space leased and pre-leased across our entire commercial portfolios. Additionally, we secured lease extensions totaling 7,120 square meters across our standing portfolio. This stands to prove that the Bucharest office market has substantial long-term growth potential as it offers the lowest A class office square meter per capita against all the other CE capital cities. Notably, One Tower and One Victoriei Plaza were fully leased, One Cotroceni Park Phase 1 reached 94% occupancy, One Cotroceni Park Phase 2 reached 93% occupancy, and Bucur Obor ended the year being operationally fully let, with some technical vacancy to allow for the major refurbishment works to be deployed efficiently and swiftly. Beyond our standing portfolio, we are in the process of developing additional 22,000 square meters of office spaces and 21,000 square meters of new commercial and hospitality spaces. The most significant office development under construction is the future Infineon Technologies campus, part of One Technology District, a large-scale, turnkey, zero carbon footprint office hub, scheduled for delivery in 2026, being the largest semiconductor R&D center in SCE. On the commercial and hospitality side, we are advancing 2 key developments: One Gallery, our retail space within One Floreasca City, which is a transformation of the former old factory into a modern commercial hub. As of the end of 2024, it has achieved a 76% pre-leased status, and it is expected fully leased this year. One Gallery will not only feature retail, but also office, a multicultural space and an innovative food market with over 40 premium food operators. The Mondrian Hotel, featuring 103 rooms and suites, is inspired by the Romanian fairytale, Youth Without Age and Life Without Death. The hotel will blend modern aesthetics with local cultural heritage, making it the first hotel in our portfolio. It is set to open in 2026. 2024 was a year of expansion and consolidation for our Commercial division. Our standing commercial portfolio, strong leasing demand and new developments like One Technology District, the Mondrian Hotel and One Gallery are well underway. When all these are completed, we should own more than 181,000 square meters in gross leasable area by the end of 2026, a big achievement considering that the rental portfolio was 0 only 5 years ago. As we look ahead, we remain committed to delivering modern sustainable office, retail and hospitality spaces that meet the evolving needs of businesses and consumers while delivering the long-term value for our shareholders. With all the income streams being hedged against inflation via annual indexation and as cap rates compress this year, commercial property yields will follow, further enhancing the value of our portfolio and creating liquidity in the investment property market with the series of opportunities lining up ahead of us. Now I'll pass it over to Cosmin Samoila, our CFO, who will take you through One United Properties' financial performance and impact in 2024.

Hello. I'm Cosmin Samoila, Chief Financial Officer at One United Properties, and I will take you through financial performance of 2024, highlighting the year-over-year evolution of our key financial indicators. In 2024, One United Properties recorded a consolidated turnover of EUR 285 million, a 7% slight decrease year-over-year. While we successfully exceeded our residential presales expectations, the slower pace of construction progress impacted revenue recognition. However, this is a temporary effect and we anticipate recovering this revenue over the next quarter as more developments are completed and delivered. Residential sales remained strong, reaching EUR 223 million, a decrease of just 2% from 2023, but a 28% increase over the previous 3 years' average, which is a relevant indicator for a 3 years duration of the business cycle of One United Properties operating. The net income from residential property sales increased with 6% year-over-year, reaching EUR 65 million, supported by growing margins as development progressed and sales prices increased. Consequently, the net margin from residential sales improved from 27% in 2023 to 29% in 2024, demonstrating the efficiency of our pricing strategy and cost management, while at the same time reflecting the natural revenue recognition cycle of large-scale development. As already mentioned by Victor, our Commercial division continues to play an increasing role in our business. Rental income and revenues from services to tenants grew with 18% year-over-year, reaching EUR 30 million, supported by the expansion of our commercial portfolio and strong tenant demand. Net rental income increased to 24%, reaching EUR 21 million, proving the strength of our leasing strategy. In 2024, gross profit was EUR 89 million, an 18% decrease compared to 2023. This decline was primarily due to the slower-than-anticipated progress of the construction work and decrease of fair value gains on investment properties generated by less volume of commercial assets reaching significant development milestones this year, milestones such as acquisition, construction finalization, start of generating rental income or full occupancy. We maintained tight control of our administrative expenses, which declined with 7% year-over-year to EUR 15 million despite the company's expanding operations. This demonstrates our ability to scale efficiently while ensuring disciplined cost management. Looking at the balance sheet, our total assets increased with 11% in 2024, reaching EUR 1.1 billion, reinforcing our solid financial position and long-term investment strategy. Our cash position improved by 3% to EUR 87 million, supported by strong residential sales and presales collection totaling EUR 174 million in 2024 and the successful share capital increase raising EUR 68 million, but offset by continuous investment in high-value developments spanning 13 active construction sites across residential and commercial projects. At the same time, we continue to optimize our liabilities so that our long-term debt remains well structured. The weighted average loan maturity stands at 7.1 years for investment properties and 3.1 years residential development loans, and in the same time, ensuring that our debt remains cost efficient. We maintain a conservative approach to leverage. The gross loan-to-value ratio was 27%, a 1 percentage point improvement year-over-year, positioning One United Properties among the least-leveraged real estate developers in Europe. Net debt remained low at EUR 124 million, representing only 11% of total assets, allowing us to pursue future expansion, while maintaining financial flexibility. Looking ahead, we have a solid pipeline of contractual cash inflows from already signed presales agreement, securing future revenue visibility. As of December 31, 2024, One United Properties has EUR 343 million in additional cash flows secured until 2027, providing a strong base for the years ahead. Thank you for your attention, and I will now pass it over to Victor Capitanu for closing remarks.

2024 was a year of financial and operational resilience marked by stronger residential sales margins, with net income from residential properties up 6% year-over-year, a growing commercial portfolio with rental income up 17% year-over-year and net rental income up 24%, a solid financial position with total assets up 11% year-over-year and a healthy cash position of EUR 87 million. A positive impact on the economy, generating jobs for 17,000 people across our 13 active construction sites. Moreover, we are building quality homes for more than 4,000 families. Additionally, we are developing 43,000 square meters of modern office and commercial spaces, which will soon host both international corporations setting up or upgrading their offices in Romania, and local entrepreneurial businesses, further supporting economic growth. Together with my business partner and Co-CEO, Andrei Diaconescu, we founded One United Properties with a clear mission: To transform urban living in Romania by developing premium, sustainable communities that stand the test of time. Today, as we scale both our residential and commercial portfolios, we remain committed to delivering best-in-class properties, growing our recurring income and strengthening our role as a long-term investor in Romania's real estate landscape. With a disciplined approach to capital allocation, strong financial fundamentals and a strategy for the future, we continue to build not just properties, but a foundation for long-term value, resilience and urban transformation. Thank you.

Thank you all very much for your attention. This concludes the first part of our call. We will now open the floor for questions.

[Operator Instructions] I see we have already received several questions. Let me open the chat. The first question is, what impact could the end of war in Ukraine have on Romanian economy and on your total business? One second. Let me wait for Victor to connect. Let me repeat the question, Victor. What impact would the end -- great. Thank you.

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to our call. Look, I think the Ukraine war had a general negative impact on Romania, because Romania is perceived close to the war, since it is bordering Ukraine as a country. So look, if you ask somebody in U.S., but also in Western Europe, they perceive Romania risky because it is too close to the war in Ukraine. So I think an end of the war would have a positive impact overall on Romania and on international investors' perception of the country.

Thank you. The next question. Can you please elaborate on the development of selling prices and cost inflation last year and potentially, what you expect for this year?

Yes, last year, the impact of increase of costs and selling prices was not so big, was I think less than inflation and less than the growth in purchase power of the population of employees in general. But this year, we expect more because the government stopped some subsidies to the construction sector, which were long due in a way. So we expect that this would have a direct impact in the construction cost and in the selling prices of the units, but still it's probably single-digit impact.

Thank you, Victor. Next question. From your report, it seems that One Lake District Phase 2 delivery is now expected to happen 1 year later versus what was shown in the Q3 2024 report. Could you please elaborate on the reasons for this?

One Lake District Phase 2?

Yes, One Lake District Phase 2.

Is the fact this that it's shown 1 year later?

Yes, exactly this.

Yes. So maybe what I have to clarify here is that there is a difference in delivery term that we show in our reporting and the ones that are in the contract with the clients. I think this is very important. It's important to note that in the contract of the clients, we have some provisions for different term at least 1 year, sometimes even more, compared to the one that we report publicly. Last year also, regarding the actual progress of works, progress was slower than expected because financing, let's say, was delayed, so we couldn't get finance on the developments as fast as we intended at the beginning of the year. So all the developments last year were pushed a bit in terms of delivery. But it's important to know that contractually with the clients, we are okay, and there are no issues in this respect.

Thank you, Victor. Next question. What -- which projects and how many apartments you'd like to launch into offer in 2025?

Look, we didn't decide yet how many we'll launch. Last year, we launched around 800 units in One Lake District Phase 2. This year, we are still considering exactly what building permits we can get. And as we'll get the permitting, we'll start also selling and construction. Let's say, the most visible and expected, I think, is One Cotroceni Towers that has 1,000 -- more than 1,300 units. So hopefully, we permit this and we launch it this year. And we have a couple of other locations that we are in advanced permitting process. So let's see, if we -- if from the administration point of view we'll get the permitting in due time, we will start constructing also those.

Thank you. I saw we have exhausted the questions so far sent. [Operator Instructions] We will hold around 2 minutes if you have other questions. If there will be no further questions, we will conclude this call, so thank you.

If there are no other question, I think this will be the shortest call ever. So...

Okay. We got another question. So the question is, what was the reason of relatively low margin in the residential segment in Q4 2024?

Cosmin, can you take that?

Yes, thank you for the question. Basically, what is happening in Q4 is that the sales are already signed and they are effective as they were contracted before. And in Q4, in the moment, you have slight inflation on the cost, as Victor mentioned earlier, responding to a question. Basically, that slight inflation on the cost to finalize the development is affecting only on the cost side, the margin, because the sales side is already fixed. So in the quarter, you have update on the budget and the cost is increasing. You have a lower margin than in the quarters when you have the same fixed cost or you have a less cost maybe.

Thank you. I see there are no further questions on the chat. Thank you all for your participation. I think we will conclude the call here. As a short information, the next time we will hear each other after we publish the results on 12th of May, this will be the Q1 2025 results. Other than that, on 29th of April, we are going to host our Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. As I mentioned at the beginning of this call, the documentation related to the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, including the budget for 2025, will be published according to the legal provisions enforced 30 days before the GSM. We will also issue a current together with the 2025 budget to make sure that you do not miss this important update. Thank you all very much for joining our teleconference, and we wish you a great day ahead.

Thank you. Have a good day.