Meliá Atlántico Isla Canela owned by REIT Saint Croix
Even during the Summer and despite the «partial recovery», the REIT’s 6 hotels «were deeply impacted by the situation and its occupancy was much below the normal values for that time of the year», advanced the REIT during the results’ presentation made available last week at the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores.
This data led Saint Croix to forecast drops in terms of hotel revenues which may reach 44% y-o-y. Despite the negative impacts on the segment, selling these assets is not an option for the REIT. Saint Croix’s CFO Manuel Serrano stated to El Español that «selling hotels under the current circumstances is to deteriorate the value of your own estate because in the end, you will have to apply significant discount rates due to the pandemic and that makes no sense right now».
Looking into opportunities with no commitment
The REIT not only does not want to divest, but it has its sights set on the Spanish real estate market. «We keep seeking investment opportunities because we will not stop doing that», revealed Manuel Serrano.
On these new operations, the CFO assumed that «there is no operation advanced or mature enough to conclude the year with an investment, but it is true that tomorrow, there might be an investment opportunity which will be concluded in a matter of two weeks; we can be very flexible when needed».
The fact is that in September Sant Croix invested around 22.8 million euro in the purchase of a lot at number 55 Calle de José Antonio Fernández Ordóñez, in Madrid, and spent 5 million euro in refurbishing some of its other assets.
The REIT intends to keep facing the crisis with a portfolio constituted by 6 hotels, 13 offices, 11 retail spaces and 1 industrial asset. This 499.9 million euro portfolio generated, up until September, a total of 12.7 million euro in revenues, 13.37% higher than the same period last year.
