PROPERTY BULGARIA INFO

Monday, May 21st, 2007

Bulgaria REIT Activ Properties buys coastal property

Bulgarian real estate investment trust Activ Properties has added to its portfolio a 4.8 ha land plot near Sozopol, on the Black Sea, the company said in a filing with the Bulgarian stock exchange. The REIT plans to develop a vacation complex in the area. No further details about the project were immediately available. The company is in the process of acquiring more properties in the vicinity which will be rezoned. These properties are not part of the protected wilderness tracts in the region, said executive director Dilian Panev.

The investment in coastal properties will form a faction in the Activ Properties portfolio and will be financed with the proceeds from the company’s capital raise. In March, the REIT hiked its capital from 5.2 mln to 19.7 mln levs, raising 22 mln levs.

There are no plans to raise cash with further share sales over the next 12-18 months, said Panev. The company will rely on debt and loan financing over the said period. At the moment, the focus is on the design of a residential development in Plovdiv, said Panev. Construction should begin in the fall. The 41 mln euro project should be completed in 36 months.

Activ Properties owns several premises in a new mixed-use building on Sofia’s Tsarigradsko Shose boulevard and an underground parking lot and commercial center in Plovdiv. The REIT posted a profit of 1.022 mln levs for 2006, sharply up from 30,000 levs in 2005. Revenues topped 1.731 mln levs, including 299,000 levs of rent income.