The 16 Bucharest commercial centres which include Baneasa Shopping City, AFI Cotroceni, Sun Plaza or Bucharest Mall brought exploitation incomes of over 800 million lei last year, according to a ZF analysis based on the financial reports published with the Finance Ministry.

Incomes of mall owners reflect the development degree of modern trade as well as the people’s purchase power, as long as the rent level in malls represent about 15% of sales.

Considering this indicator, last year sales in shops of the 16 commercial centres analysed can be estimated at 5.3 billion lei (1.2 billion euros).

Baneasa Developments Company, through which businessmen Gabriel Popoviciu and Radu Dimofte control the commercial area of Baneasa project, in the northern part of the Capital, holds pride of place after registering businesses of 199 million lei last year, on the rise by 8% against 2013, while net profit reached 55 million lei, 20% higher. “In comes have grown because of good results in the entertainment segment and from rental and business-to-business activities. The advance of net profit is the result of income increases and of a more strict control of operational expenses,” says Georgios Argentopoulos, CEO of Baneasa Developments.

On the other hand, Cotroceni Park, the firm through which the Israelis from AFI control AFI Cotroceni Mall, ranking second with businesses rising by 4% to over 141 million lei in 2014. However net profit dropped by over 5 times to 24 million lei last year.

Promenada Mall, which opened in 2013 and was taken over by the South-African fund NEPI, ranked fifth in the top with exploitation incomes of 65 million lei, five times higher than in 2013.

2015 marked the opening of a new commercial centre - Mega Mall, also owned by NEPI fund. The stock of malls and commercial centres has reached over 1 million square meters in Bucharest. (source: actmedia.eu)