Heliopolis Housing.. Accelerated monetization underway
▪ Lucrative Heliopark sale valuation generates sizeable proceeds and sets a land valuation benchmark for HELI’s remaining land bank ▪ HELI’s focus shifts to more revenue-sharing deals as the suboptimal execution pace weighs on its profitability
HC Brokerage issued their update about Egypt’s real estate sector shedding the light on Heliopolis Housing’s performance and foresee Solid profitability over the short-medium term.
Mariam Elsaadany, real estate analyst at HC Brokerage commented that: “ Heliopark sale kick starts land monetization efforts: Following years of sitting on an idle land bank, Heliopolis Housing’s (HELI) management has approved the sale of the 7.12m sqm of Heliopark land plot (representing c31% of its land bank then) to the National Organization for Social Insurance (NOSI) in October 2023 for a total value of EGP15bn (net proceeds of EGP13bn), implying a price of EGP2,107/sqm and the lump-sum transaction was executed in 4Q23. We believe the Heliopark deal valuation reflects positively on the valuation of HELI’s remaining land bank in New Heliopolis City. In November 2023, the company signed the final contract for a revenue-sharing project with Mg Developments to develop 77.19 feddans (0.32m sqm) in districts 10 and 11 of its New Heliopolis City land plot and its share of the project’s revenue is EGP3.39bn, representing 32.1% of the project’s total revenue. In January 2024, it signed a bigger deal with Middle East for Investment and Touristic Development to develop around 865 feddans (3.63m sqm) in New Heliopolis City, where HELI’s share of revenue is c28% of the semi-finished units, and c3% of the finishing value, with expected proceeds of EGP39.7bn and a minimum guarantee of EGP23bn and the size of the deal is subject to increase to 1,070 feddans. Also, in March 2024, HELI received from Mountain View an offer to develop a 517-feddan plot (2.17m sqm) in New Heliopolis City, and another offer from Madinet Nasr Housing (MASR EY) to develop three land plots in New Heliopolis City with a total area of 580 feddans under revenue-sharing terms. The sale of Heliopark in addition to the revenue-sharing deals, leaves the company with 12.4m sqm of undeveloped land in New Heliopolis City, down from a total land bank of 22.2m sqm previously. The monetization update comes after years of efforts by the Ministry of Public Business Sector (MPBS) to extract value from the company’s assets. Going forward, we expect HELI to focus on more revenue-sharing deals to create a steady income, and the development of New Heliopolis City, after securing funding for infrastructure spending from the Heliopark sales proceeds with a cost of around EGP4bn, based on our understanding.”
“ Solid profitability over the short-medium term: Our revenue estimates for the company mainly come from its revenue-share agreement with SODIC (OCDI EY), followed by the EGP1.30bn worth of its finished units’ inventory. HELI has been consistently holding on to inventory over the past nine quarters, which hampered its profitability. The company recently announced its plan to sell 460 residential units in New Heliopolis City worth EGP1.30bn, which should reflect positively on its FY24 revenue and net income. Revenue from SODIC East will have the largest contribution to total recurring revenue, with a total contribution of c56% over FY24—26e followed by a c44% contribution from unit sales. We estimate revenue of EGP1.65bn from SODIC East, over FY24—26e. HELI has already booked EGP1.26bn from the project, c25% of the EGP5.01bn minimum guarantee. It is worth noting that SODIC East revenue is recorded at virtually no cost, allowing the company to report high margins. We estimate revenue of EGP1.30bn from 460 units to be offered in 2024, at an average margin of c40%. We will include future revenue from the revenue-sharing deals in our forecast when launched. Our blended gross profit margin estimate for 4Q23—FY26e is c79% as our total costs estimate is EGP3.40bn over the same period. The company’s existing receivables stand at EGP1.27bn, which we account for in our collection schedule over 4Q23—FY33e, in addition to the EGP1.30bn of future unit sales. We expect the company to reduce its debt over the coming period as it utilizes the Heliopark proceeds. We expect the net debt position of EGP1.45bn to reverse into a net cash position of EGP3.28bn in 4Q23, and we gradually lower the debt balance to EGP543m in FY25 from EGP1.74bn as of 3Q23. The proceeds strengthen HELI’s balance sheet significantly, despite our estimate of a sizeable FY23 DPS of EGP2.30, implying a net-of-tax yield of c18%, based on the March 10 closing price of EGP12.6/share.” Mariam Elsaadany concluded.
