ČMN has more than doubled the value of its assets to almost CZK 5 billion in 2019, as compared to about CZK 2.2 billion in 2018. ČMN’s EBITDA also grew, reaching more than CZK 360 million, as compared to almost 320 million in 2018.

“Each year is special for us. While in 2018, we concentrated on buildings worth hundreds of million korunas, in 2019 we primarily targeted premium buildings and offices in Prague, and our investment plan is similar this year,” said Radek Stacha, Chairman of the Board, ČMN.

ČMN was the largest Czech investor in 2019
In 2019, ČMN group was one of the largest local players as measured by the value of closed transactions. ČMN acquired the Crystal building in the second quarter, and the BLOX building in the third quarter of 2019. Located in Prague, both buildings were a part of a single transaction, which at the same time was the largest purchase made by a Czech investor that year.

“In the long run, we have been focusing on office buildings. When selecting a real estate to invest in, we prefer buildings in large cities, striving to form multiannual partnerships with major national and international players. We have placed emphasis on long-term investment horizon and the quality of tenants in each building,” said Radek Stacha.

2020: a year full of opportunities
Despite some slowdown on the market, the ČMN real estate group has carried out one of the largest transactions on the Czech real estate market, adding office buildings CITY WEST C1 and C2, worth more than CZK 2 billion, to its portfolio. The transaction has been funded by Raiffeisen Bank.

ČMN currently administers more than 80,000 sq. m of office space, ranking among the largest holders of office space in Prague. The real estate group’s strategy has remained constant – strong focus on stable office sector in Prague. ČMN targets on large international companies and the stable sector of commercial office real estate.

The robustness of ČMN’s strategy has been confirmed during the Covid-19 crisis. The fact that occupancy of office buildings is connected to economic activity in the mid-term and long-term means that the current risk of Covid-19 impact on ČMN is, according to Radek Stacha, rather insignificant.

“In this respect, long-term leases are our best protection. The risk of inability to find a new tenant in Prague is very low, considering that the current inoccupancy rate of office buildings is about 5 percent. In this situation, our further protection is the diversification of tenants,” said Radek Stacha.