Plaza Centers, an emerging markets property developer, made a net profit of EUR25.8m for the six months ended 30 June 2010 compared with a loss of EUR28.4m the previous year.

The profit was mainly owing to the recognition of an accounting gain from the acquisition of EDT Retail Trust totalling EUR38m.

Plaza Centers had total assets of EUR1.45bn at 30 June, compared with EUR1.06bn at 31 December 2009.

Gross revenues from the operation of real estate assets were EUR9.5m, up from EUR7.7m the previous year. No material disposals were made during the reporting period.

Plaza Centers had basic and diluted earnings of EUR0.09 and EUR0.08 per share respectively, compared with a basic and diluted loss per share of EUR0.10 at 30 June 2009.

The company’s short term cash position (including restricted deposits and marketable securities) was EUR204m (31 December 2009: EUR179m) and working capital was EUR736m (31 December 2009: EUR710m). Its current cash position is approximately EUR200m.

In August 2010, the company signed a loan agreement for financing 70 per cent (circa EUR33m) of the development costs for a new shopping centre at Kragujevac, Serbia. The scheme has seen high demand from retailers and is already 60 per cent pre-let.

Construction of Plaza's ninth retail scheme in Poland, the 39,000 square metre GLA Torun Plaza, commenced recently and is expected to complete in Q4 2011.

On 28 July 2010 the board approved a bond issuance programme for the issuance of up to 3,000 unsecured bearer bonds, governed by Polish law, to the maximum amount of PLN300m (approximately EUR75m), in several tranches. The tranches have been approved for issuance between July 2010 and the end of 2016 as part of a long term strategic financing plan.

Ran Shtarkman, president and chief executive officer of Plaza Centers, says: “Since the start of this year, we have made good progress across all areas of the business, achieving two important milestones along the way. We are proud to have opened two new schemes this year, the latest being Suwalki Plaza in Poland, our 30th shopping and entertainment centre in the CEE region. We are proud of the fact that we have developed more shopping centres in CEE than all other major competitors combined, a true reflection of our dominance in this region. We were also pleased to have completed our acquisition of a strategic stake in EDT Retail Trust, our first investment in the US, a market which we have been monitoring for some time. The transaction offers us an exposure to a high quality portfolio of retail assets, predominantly US community shopping centres, with significant value enhancing opportunities.”