The time ofplenty is over in the real estate market. Real estate investors have to rotate much more to get the returns they need. The Cimex Group of billionaire Petr Lukes is responding to the more expensive financing and the current situation by offering coworking spaces, but also by completely changing the use of offices.
“We are always thinking about how to achieve the highest yield and how to increase the value of the asset. We now have several projects where we are considering converting them into apartments,” Miroslav Kosnar, CEO of Cimex, told HN in an interview.
The Group is one of the leading real estate investors in the Czech Republic. It owns nine large office buildings, the Orea Hotels & Resort chain with a capacity of over 3,600 beds, and is also putting money into residential projects. At the same time, he is involved abroad, for example in the USA.
HN: What does the hotel business look like now?
We had a very strong and successful year this year. We even achieved much better numbers than in 2019. This is because we have invested in hotel buildings, but also in people. We have created a good service in the hotels, which is reflected in the reviews on Booking.com and customer satisfaction. And so we have been able to increase prices and also performance. For example, the average price of a room in 2019 was CZK 1,500 or 1,700, but this year we were able to sell for over CZK 2,000. Of course, this varies from hotel to hotel depending on location and product. We managed to increase the room rate by tens of percent. The occupancy rate was then similar to 2019 or slightly higher.
HN: Was the increase in the room rate enough to cover the rising energy costs?
This year we still have a fixed price, but we still had an increase. However, the output was able to cover the higher costs. But it is not just about energy, it is also about people, because it is a labour-intensive business. The extra value is created by the people who serve you, give you service, laugh at you, so you want to come back.
The full article can be found at Some companies can’t manage to pay their debts. However, the real estate market is still frozen, says the head of Cimex Group
