PIK Group posts FY 2009 net loss of $361 million

Russian property developer, PIK Group, has posted a FY 2009 net loss of $361 million under IFRS.

The bottom line compares with a FY 2008 net loss of $1.135 billion, with FY 2009 EBITDA coming in at minus $112 million, comparing with the FY 2008 EBITDA of minus $1.069 billion, as FY revenues fell 4.1% year on year to $1.3 billion.

The company attributed the result to the impact of the global liquidity crisis in late 2008 and early 2009, combined with the economic downturn in Russia which followed, and which required the company focusing on its liquidity. However despite the net result CEO, Pavel Poselenov was positive about the outlook.

“Unfortunately, the global economic turmoil impacted Russia heavily, in particular, liquidity shortage together with falling consumer confidence has had a severe impact on our business.
During 2009, we had to concentrate on shoring up our liquidity position, lowering our debt levels, extending debt duration and getting access to new financing. We received support from the federal government and managed to adjust our business to a new environment by cutting overheads. In 2010, the next step would be, as we believe repairing the balance sheet through deleveraging our business and achieving positive results on our projects.

Looking ahead, we see positive signs of market recovery, especially based upon 1Q2010 presales pattern. We feel that the demand from retail customers has come back. The outlook for the real estate sector is getting brighter and longer-term, the fundamentals for our business remain unchanged.”