LCSR Lewis Char. (See LSE:RPF)

 
TIDMLCSR 
 
27 January 2009 
 
                   Lewis Charles Romania Property Fund Limited 
 
                                    AIM: LCSR 
 
                                 Trading Update 
 
The  Directors  of the Lewis Charles Romania Property Fund (`the  Company')  are 
pleased to issue the following trading update in order to keep shareholders  and 
the  market  in general abreast of events concerning the Company's  investments. 
We  have  2  projects in Romania: a residential development in Mogosoaia  (a  NW 
suburb  of  Bucharest), and a shopping centre project at Ploiesti (about  40  km 
north  of Bucharest).  Our plans for both projects assume a contraction  of  the 
Romanian economy and continued economic weakness until 2011. Both projects  have 
debt  at the Romanian subsidiary company / joint venture level but this debt  is 
without  recourse to the Guernsey Company. The Company had EUR  1.7  million  in 
cash at the Guernsey level on 31 December 2008. 
 
Mogosoaia. This is a 50:50 joint venture between the Company, the developer, Ali 
Chemais  and  his  partners; the joint venture company is Gold Developments  SPV 
srl,  a company registered in Romania. The Company has invested EUR 13.4 million 
into the joint venture. The joint venture residential project has now been given 
the  brand  name `Evergreen'; the website (www.evergreenresidences.ro)  will  go 
live  at the end of February, when the sales and marketing campaign will  begin. 
It  is currently intended that the Evergreen project will be built over the next 
four years in seven phases with a total build area of 125,000 sq m. The site has 
now  been  cleared  and  Phase 1 will launch in March 2009,  consisting  of  278 
apartments and a total build area of 31,500 sq m. An important part of  planning 
for  de-risking  the  project is that Phase 1 will be broken  down  into  3  sub 
phases,  each of which could be stand-alone: Phase 1A consists of 64  apartments 
(7,000  sq  m);  Phase  1B of 60 apartments (7,500 sq m) and  Phase  1C  of  154 
apartments (17,250 sq m). Construction of Phase 1B will not begin until most  of 
Phase  1A  has  been sold. Although the scheme has not been officially  launched 
early soft marketing has been positive. Affordability is seen as a key attribute 
in the current climate; the sales price average target for Phase 1A is EUR 1,200 
per  sq  m  which the Company believes is a competitive price in  the  Bucharest 
market.  The construction price target for this phase is EUR 600 per sq  m.  The 
bank financing for the project has been provided by Unicredit and a facility  of 
EUR  10  million  has been secured. The first drawdown from  this  facility  has 
already taken place. Given the planned phasing of construction and sales, it  is 
expected  that this facility will be sufficient to cover all construction  costs 
and professional fees for the whole of Phase 1. 
 
Ploiesti. The Company has invested EUR 21.6 million in this project, of which it 
is  the  sole  owner  through its Romanian subsidiary  company  SC  Retail  Park 
Magnolia  sarl  (`Magnolia'). The project has been given the brand  name  Zenith 
(www.zenithromania.com). Magnolia owns a 99,394 sq m  site  which  has  a  `PUZ' 
(Urban Zoning Plan) specific to the site. This approved PUZ allows the following 
maximum  development parameters: an occupation percentage of 70%; a  utilization 
coefficient  of 2; and a height regime of ground floor  + 4  (20 meters  at  the 
cornice of the main unit). The project at Ploiesti has reached an advanced stage 
of  planning but construction of this project will not begin until the  economic 
climate  improves  and  finance is available; until  finance  is  available  the 
project remains on hold. Magnolia has short-term debt which is repayable  on  20 
July  2009  of  EUR  4  million, and also owes EUR 2.7 million  to  a  group  of 
creditors that have been responsible for the planning and design of Zenith.  The 
Board  is  currently negotiating a standstill agreement with these creditors  so 
that  the Company can hold the project in suspension until the economic  climate 
improves,  and  will seek to re-finance Magnolia's short term debt.   A  further 
announcement will be made in due course. 
 
For further information please contact 
 
Ed Portman, Ben Way , Conduit PR 
+44 (0) 207 429 6607/+44 (0) 7733 363 501 
Loraine Pinel, Mark Anderson, Lewis Charles Romania Property Fund 
+44 (0) 20 7456 9100/+44 (0) 7876 560 787 
Robert Finlay, Canaccord Adams 
+44 (0) 20 7050 6500 
 

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