Equest Balkan Properties (EBP), an Isle of Man registered company for commercial property investments in the Balkan region, will sell the City Center Sofia shopping mall it owns in the Bulgarian capital, the company said in a filing with the London Stock Exchange where it is listed.

'In demonstrating the value within and crystallising some profit from, the portfolio, the board has determined that one mature asset, the regional mall, City Center Sofia, and two long-dated and non-core developments, the office development, Serdika Forum in Sofia and Apollo, the mixed-use project in Old Belgrade, should be realised for cash, the fund said in the statement.

The net profit of the fund fell to 4.8 mln euro last year from 25 mln euro in 2006.

'The widespread problems in the property sector of the European equities market have been fully reported and the Balkans and EBP shares have not been immune to this negative market sentiment, said Lord St John of Bletso, chairman of EBP, commenting on the preliminary results for 2007.

'The current challenging conditions in the debt markets, which started in the USA in August 2007, first became evident in the Balkan region by the sidelining of several major lenders and a general slowdown in the credit approval process. Despite the challenging conditions, Austrian and Greek banks continued to lend, though at less favourable terms than those available just six months earlier.

Since the end of 2005, EBP has invested 321 mln euro across the Balkans through the acquisition of majority and minority equity stakes.

As a result of the 29 transactions completed by the company to date, it owns or controls 54 properties located in the Balkans. Those include 28 properties in Bulgaria, 14 in Serbia, 10 in Romania and two in Macedonia.

2007 net rental income came in at 8.59 mln euro, double the level for 2006, primarily from stabilised operations at City Center Sofia and Moldova Mall.
Source: news.dnevnik.bg