NEXITY : H1 2015 results: revises 2015 outlook after sustained growth in H1

Business activity growth in housing development

• Residential real estate: 5,136 net new home reservations in France, up 13% in volume and 22% in value compared to H1 2014
• Real estate services to individuals: stable number of units under management (940,500)
• Group backlog at end-June: €3.1 billion (16 months' revenue from development activities^{[1]:
  #_edn1})

Improved financial performance

• Revenue of €1.35 billion in the first half, up 21%, with growth in all Group business lines
• Current operating profit up 26% (€92 million). Operating margin up at 6.9% (6.6% at 30 June 2014)
• Group share of net profit up 39% (€49 million)
• Net debt of €256 million at 30 June 2015 (i.e. 17% of equity)

Outlook for 2015 confirmed, revised upward to take into account French real estate recovery

• Residential real estate: Nexity market share (12%) to be maintained in a French new homes market estimated to grow at 94,000-100,000 units (versus 90,000-95,000 estimated in February 2015)
• Commercial real estate: order intake of at least €200 million
• Consolidated revenue target for 2015: at least €2.9 billion (versus €2.75 billion announced in February 2015)
• Current operating profit target for 2015: at least €200 million, after taking into account €20 million in expenses related to investments in digital transformation and innovation
  • Confirmation of a dividend payment of €2 per share in 2016^{[2]:
    #_edn2}
    

Alain Dinin, Chairman and CEO of Nexity, commented:

"Since the beginning of the year, the French housing market has experienced a strong recovery. This is primarily the result of persistently very low interest rates: homebuyers and investors have realised that now is the time to invest. The entire French real estate market (new-build and existing properties, residential and commercial) is feeling the benefits of this. The housing recovery plan passed by the French parliament at the end of last year has also begun to pay off. In particular, the Pinel scheme is working, effectively utilising the attractiveness of new real estate to address the pressing need of French savers to put away a nest egg for retirement. And yet, sales to homebuyers today are still lagging behind in the recovery, hamstrung by budget cuts to the PTZ interest-free loan scheme in the Paris region.

The French housing market is expected to make a comeback in 2015 with a total number of sales approaching 100,000 units (versus 86,600 in 2014), before returning to its past 10-year average of 105,000 units a year in 2016. In 2015 Nexity expects to maintain at least its 2014 market share of 12% in a growing market. This growth pattern is nevertheless a delicate one, against a more volatile and uncertain macro-economic and geopolitical backdrop than before. It also assumes that the early results of the policy put forward by French prime minister Manuel Valls will not be challenged by budget cuts or by unfortunate regulatory initiatives.

Nexity's business activity in the new housing market during the first six months of the year has kept up its momentum from the first quarter, with growth of 13% by volume and 22% by value in comparison to the first half of 2014, thanks to a revival in demand from individuals.

The increase in Nexity's revenue and operating profit recorded during the first half of 2015 enables us to confirm the targets shared with the market earlier this year. In all of Nexity's businesses, a strong order backlog, project implementation quality and sales victories worked together to heighten the Group's performance, which is now once again on a growth track. With its solid balance sheet, revised ownership profile and sustained investments in digital transformation and innovation, Nexity intends to take full advantage of its integrated business model, which covers all real estate services and development lines, to become France's real estate partner of choice."

***

At its meeting on Thursday, 23 July 2015, chaired by Alain Dinin, Nexity's Board of Directors reviewed and approved the Group's consolidated financial statements for the half year period ended 30 June 2015, which can be found in Annex of this press release. The 2015 half-year financial statements were subjected to a limited review by the Statutory Auditors of the Company.

***

Business activity in H1 2015

Residential real estate

The retail market for new homes in France was up 14% in the first quarter of the year, compared to the first quarter of 2014^[3]:
#_edn3. The decline in mortgage rates continued in the second quarter (1.99% on average in June, 2.16% on average in March 2015)^[4]:
#_edn4 and remained a significant driver of housing demand.

*including 320 net new home reservations for PERL representing €90 million in reservation revenue

• New homes

In the first half of 2015, the Group recorded 5,136 net new home reservations in France, a 13% year-on-year increase by volume. Revenue from reservations grew more quickly, rising 22% (€1,010 million incl. VAT), due to a greater proportion in the first half of 2015 of sales to individuals (whose average purchase price is higher than that of professional landlords) as well as a 14% increase in the average price of bulk sales. On a like-for-like basis (excluding PERL), the net number of new home reservations grew 7% by volume and 11% by value.

Continuing the trend seen in the first quarter of 2015, sales to individual investors soared (up 77%)^[5]:
#_edn5, driven by the introduction and strong reception of the "Pinel" scheme, which has proved more attractive than its predecessor. The impact of the change in tax regime was particularly favourable to a number of regional markets that crossed into different zoning brackets, enabling an increase in rent and therefore a better yield for investors.

Despite competitive interest rates, the number of homebuyers (down 4% from H1 2014) has not yet seen the benefit of the market recovery, due to the still-fragile French economy, a situation further exacerbated in the Paris region by the PTZ interest-free loan reform at the end of 2014.

Reservations made by professional landlords were down 24% compared to H1 2014, resulting from one-off delays in obtaining building permits. 431 of the 1,324 reservations made by professional landlords were transacted with institutional investors (including 287 intermediate housing units reserved by the SNI^[6]:
#_edn6), representing a very significant increase (up 50%) compared to the previous year.

On the whole, the balance of Nexity's sales shifted towards the French regions (63% of total sales in the first half of 2015, versus 58% in the first half of 2014).

In the first half of 2015, the average price of residential units reserved by Nexity's individual clients^[7]:
#_edn7 was down 4% relative to H1 2014, due to a 4% decrease in average floor area, with the average price per square metre remaining stable. This development reflected the change in the customer mix, with individual investors - who on average purchase smaller units than homebuyers - more widely represented during this half-year period.

* excluding bulk sales, Iselection and PERL

As the market recovered, the number of units launched by Nexity increased by 33% in the first half of the year^[8]:
#_edn8 (5,509 units). The unsold completed stock (86 units) of commercial offer (5,493) remained very low and stable relative to end-December 2014. The average level of pre-selling recorded at the time construction work was launched remains high (69% on average).

At end-June 2015 the business potential^[9]:
#_edn9 for new homes was up 18% from end-June 2014, at 28,693 units, i.e. 3 years of business activity. The growth in business potential was particularly strong in the Paris region (up 45% at end-June 2015 versus end-June 2014).

• Subdivisions

Subdivision reservations totalled 877 units, remaining stable relative to the first half of 2014, with the average price of net reservations from individuals falling 3% to €77k due to a 3% decrease in the average unit size.

• International

Nexity recorded 56 international new home reservations in the first half of 2015, of which 39 were in Poland and 17 in Italy. In Poland the half-year period was characterised by the first delivery of a development launched in June 2013 and the launch of 160 housing units at a development in Warsaw. In Italy, Nexity's announced policy of risk mitigation continued to be implemented.

Commercial real estate

The French commercial real estate market remained robust, with significant investment volumes despite a one-off decline in the second quarter. Investors continued to show higher risk appetite, with renewed interest in "speculative" VEFA off-plan arrangements in Paris and its inner suburbs.

For the same period, space taken up (volume of rental brokerage and user sales) in the Paris region (915,200 sq.m) was down 22% relative to the first half of 2014^{[10]:
#_edn10} and 33% below the average first-half volume for the past ten years.

Nexity booked new orders totalling €25 million in the first half of 2015. Given its portfolio of projects in the advanced start-up and marketing phases, the Group's target of achieving new orders of at least €200 million in the year is confirmed.

After the period-end, Nexity sold two commercial buildings in a Lyon-area business park for €18 million.

Services and Distribution Networks

In Real estate services to companies, the volume of units under management totalled 12.4 million sq.m at 30 June 2015, up 5.6% from year-end 2014.

In Real estate services to individuals, the half-year period was marked by Nexity's sale of its business in Switzerland and the acquisition of independent property management firms in Paris, Dijon and Bordeaux, as well as the Pierre Bérard firm in the Paris region, with combined annual revenue of about €14 million. Those operations, taken into account in the performance indicators at 30 June 2015, did not have a significant impact on the half-year financial statements.

The portfolio of units under management (940,500 units at 30 June 2015) remained stable (+0.5%) relative to end-December 2014. On a like-for-like basis, the attrition rate amounted to 1.6%, an improvement compared to end-June 2014 (2.4%).

For Distribution Networks, in the market for existing properties, the number of provisional sale agreements (compromis) recorded in the first half by Century 21 and Guy Hoquet l'Immobilier was up 9% relative to the same period a year earlier, despite a decrease in the number of franchisees (1,218 agencies at end-June 2015 versus 1,256 at end-June 2014).

Urban regeneration (Villes & Projets)

For end-June 2015, at 545,700 sq.m^{[11]:
#_edn11}, the land development potential of Nexity's urban regeneration business (Villes & Projets) was down 3% relative to year-end 2014. No additions to the portfolio were recorded in the first half.

H1 2015 CONSOLIDATED RESULTS

Revenue

In the first half of 2015, Nexity recorded revenue of €1,347 million, up 21% relative to the first half of 2014^{[12]:
#_edn12} and representing increases across all business lines. This €232 million increase was mainly driven by the increase in revenue recognised by the Residential division in France (up €160 million from the first half of last year) and by the Commercial division (up €97 million).

* Revenue generated by the Residential and Commercial divisions from VEFA off-plan sales and CPI development contracts) is recognised using the percentage-of-completion method, i.e. on the basis of notarised sales and pro-rated to reflect the progress of incurred construction costs.

• Residential real estate revenue totalled €892 million, up 21% relative to the same period in 2014. That growth resulted from an increase in the number of developments started and better progress at Nexity's housing development sites in France, compared with the first half of 2014. It also reflected a favourable base effect arising from the first half of 2014, which had been affected by delays in the signing of notarial deeds. It is also due to the strong growth of Iselection's revenues, spurred on in the first half of 2015 by a high level of sales to individual investors.

In the first half of the year, PERL posted revenue of €47 million, of which only €30 million was included in Nexity's consolidated revenue after accounting for restatements in the opening statement of financial position and remeasurements of assets and liabilities to fair value as part of the purchase price allocation (PPA), which will have almost no further impact in the second half of 2015. Excluding changes in scope, revenue for the division was up 17%.

• In Commercial real estate, continuing the trend seen since the fourth quarter of 2014 of a ramp-up in major developments initiated in 2013, including in particular "Eco Campus" in Châtillon (Hauts-de-Seine) and "Le Nuovo" in Clichy (Hauts-de-Seine), first-half revenue surged to €202 million, up 93%.
   
• The Services and Distribution Networks division recognised revenue of €243 million, up 5% from the first half of 2014. A €16 million portion of that increase was from external growth, including €15 million from the consolidation of Oralia for one quarter more than in 2014. Excluding changes in scope, revenue from Real estate services to individuals was down 2.6% due to the mechanical impact of attrition in the portfolio of units under management and the lower level of revenue for the brokerage business in the first half of the year.
   
• Revenue in the first half of 2015 for Other activities (€10 million versus €44 million in first-half 2014) included a sale of development rights acquired through Villes & Projets to a third-party developer. In the first half of 2014, revenue included non-recurring income from the Group's April 2014 disposal of its shares in the OPCI real estate investment fund that owned the Aviso building, located in Puteaux (Hauts-de-Seine).

Operating profit

Nexity's current operating profit in the first half of 2015 was €92 million (versus €73 million in the first half of 2014). The operating margin increased by 0.3 point to 6.9%.

Operating profit for Residential real estate was up 18% from the first half of 2014 (an increase of €11 million). The division's operating margin was down slightly, to 7.8% from 8.0% at end-June 2014, and was stable excluding the impact of PERL, whose lack of contribution to operating profit on account of its PPA weighed on the division's margin. The margin for New Homes in France in the first half of the year was down to a level slightly below its normative level. Nexity expects an improvement in the operating margin on that business during the second half of 2015. Meanwhile, the profitability of subdivisions and international operations was up (delivery of a development in Poland, losses reduced in Italy).

The Commercial real estate division's operating profit came to €22 million as of 30 June 2015, versus €13 million at 30 June 2014 (up 68%). The operating margin for the period remained high (11.0% after reaching 12.6% in first-half 2014) and was higher than its usual level, reflecting the sound financial and technical management of major ongoing projects, and also benefited from reversals of provisions on delivered projects.

The Services and Distribution Networks division turned in operating profit of €12 million, versus €11 million at 30 June 2014, for an operating margin of 5.0% (versus 4.8%).

The operating margin for the Services business remained stable (4.6%). The operating profit for individual property management was €10 million versus €7 million at 30 June 2014, placing the operating margin up 1.6 points (6.7%), thanks to the consolidation of Oralia and good cost control in real estate services to individuals in the Nexity network, which helped offset the drop in revenue from this business. The Real estate services to companies business posted an operating loss: Nexity Conseil et Transaction (formerly Keops) had a downward impact on the division's operating profit. During the half-year period it began reorganising and changed management.

Profit from franchise operations was up (€1.5 million versus €1.2 million for the period ended 30 June 2014), reflecting increased revenue which provided better coverage of fixed costs.

The change in operating profit from Other activities includes the rising impact of incubated start-ups and digital projects as holding company expenses were kept down. The profit also reflects a gain on the disposal of Ciloger^{[13]:
#_edn13} and anticipated operating losses on Nexity Blue Office.

Net profit

The Group's net financial expense was €10.1 million (compared to €6.3 million in the first half of 2014) resulting from an increase in the average amount of debt it used, following two bond issues in the first half of 2014 (€171 million in April 2014 and €180 million in June 2014), as well as the lower interest rates earned by Nexity's cash holdings.

The tax charge (€32.1 million) was up €1.8 million, an increase less than proportional to pre-tax profit because of a drop in the effective corporate income tax rate (39% versus 40.4% last year) and the May 2015 dividend being exempt from the 3% dividend tax.

The net profit attributable to shareholders of the Nexity parent company was €48.8 million for the period, versus €35.1 million for the first half of 2014 (up 39%).

Working capital requirements

Operating WCR at end-June 2015 was €644 million, up €17 million from December 2014, and WCR including tax was up €24 million.

The WCR of the Residential division was stable as business activity showed a recovery.

Commercial division WCR turned positive (€11 million) due to less favourable interim payment schedules and the absence of major new orders during the half-year period.

Financial structure

Cash flow from operating activities (before financial and tax expenses) was up, at €84 million for the first 6 months of the year. The change in operating WCR was positive (+€23 million), but reflected better control than in the first half of 2014 (+€98 million). Taxes and interest paid over the half-year period were less than during the first 6 months of 2014, when the amount of corporate income tax paid was exceptionally high. Under these conditions, cash flow from operating activities was better in the first half of 2015, with an inflow of €23 million (versus an outflow of €81 million in the prior year).

Operating investments were down (€9 million versus €17 million in the first half of 2014, when Nexity moved its headquarters in Paris and Lille). Nexity's free cash flow for the first 6 months of 2015 was €14 million, versus a net cash outflow of €98 million in the prior year.

Lastly, the balance of financial investments was slightly positive for the half-year period, with proceeds from disposals, notably Ciloger, outstripping asset acquisitions in individual property management.

* Excluding changes in scope

Nexity's consolidated equity (attributable to parent company shareholders) was €1,507 million at 30 June 2015, compared to €1,559 million at 31 December 2014, mainly after €108 million in dividends paid and the inclusion of net profit for the half-year period (€49 million attributable to parent company shareholders).

Consolidated net financial debt amounted to €256 million at 30 June 2015, as opposed to €167 million at 31 December 2014 (up €90 million). Net debt represented 17% of equity. The increase in net debt in the first half of the year is primarily due to the seasonality of Nexity's operating cash flows (usually smaller in the first half than in the second half of the year) and to the payment of the dividend in May.

At 30 June 2015, Nexity had authorisations from banks to borrow up to €743 million, including available facilities of €300 million on its corporate credit lines (undrawn). The Group had drawn down €278 million of its authorised credit at 30 June 2015. Nexity was in compliance with all of the financial covenants attached to its borrowings and lines of credit as of 30 June 2015.

Backlog - Order book at 30 June 2015

* including outside France

The Group's order book at 30 June 2015 stood at €3.133 billion, down 5% relative to year-end 2014 and equivalent to 16 months' revenue from Nexity's development activities^{[15]:
#_edn16}. The Commercial real estate backlog was down due to a lack of significant new orders, while the Residential backlog experienced growth of 1%.

***

Financial calendar and practical information

A conference call on H1 2015 revenue and business activity will be held in English at 6:30 p.m. CET on Thursday, 23 July 2015. It may be accessed using the code 8659582 by dialling one of the following numbers:

The presentation accompanying this conference call will be available on the Group's website starting at 6:15 p.m. CET and may be viewed at the following address: http://:
http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/b8opii96edge.media-server.com/m/p/p8twwjpb:
http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/b8opii96

The conference call will be available to listeners starting the following day at:
http://www.nexity.fr/immobilier/groupe/finance/slides-show

Disclaimer

The information, assumptions and estimates that the Company could reasonably use to determine its targets are subject to change or modification due notably to economic, financial and competitive uncertainties. Furthermore, it is possible that some of the risks described in Section 4 of the Document de Référence, filed with the AMF under number D.15-0297 on 8 April 2015, could have an impact on the Group's operations and the Company's ability to achieve its targets. Accordingly, the Company cannot give any assurance as to whether it will achieve the targets described, and makes no commitment or undertaking to update or otherwise revise this information.

ANNEXES

RESERVATIONS BY QUARTER

*After adjustment for 47 PERL reservations of existing properties totalling €10 million.

CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT
30 JUNE 2015
According to IFRS but with joint ventures proportionately consolidated

REVENUE BY DIVISION
According to IFRS but with joint ventures proportionately consolidated

Quarterly progression of revenue by division

CURRENT OPERATING PROFIT BY DIVISION
According to IFRS but with joint ventures proportionately consolidated

Half-yearly progression of current operating profit by division

CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT
30 JUNE 2015 (IFRS)