Sonae Sierra finds it hard to start another 2 projects this year

The representatives of Sonae Sierra real estate development company, which owns a mall in Ramnicu Valcea in Romania and has another three projects under development, says it will be extremely difficult for them to start developing two more malls in Romania this year, in line with the target set in March. “It will be very hard for us to hit the set target, but we hope to start developing at least another mall (…),” Alvaro Portela, Sonae Sierra CEO, told ZF. Moreover, the company is being hurt, just like most real estate developers, by the international financial crisis. Portela says the firm he runs does not need to sell properties to continue development and also that this is not a good time for owners. On the other hand, the average maturity period for the loans contracted by the company is nine years, so that Sonae Sierra is feeling no pressure from banks. Thus, the company is considered as one of the few players that are still able to seal new acquisitions. “We’re waiting for this period of turmoil to end, to see light at the end of the tunnel,” said Portela, CEO of one of Europe’s major mall developers. Domestically, the company is developing three malls that entail overall investments of about 900m euros, the biggest of which is in Titan.