Gulf starts at Sheikh Adi-2 25/05/2012
Iraq-focused oil explorer Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) has begun drilling at the Sheikh Adi-2 well in the Sheikh Adi block.
Fund manager First Property Group has committed £7 million to its new Poland-focused fund, which seeks an eventual £100 million.
Chief executive Ben Habib says the new fund, Fprop Opportunities, will aim to invest in already income-producing retail properties, with offices as a second string and, possibly but not very likely, warehouses as a third.
He argues the Polish retail sector has held up 'extremely well' of late and cites European Commission estimates that Poland's economy will grow 3.4 per cent this year, the highest growth rate in the European Union. AIM-quoted First Property already owns 28 properties in Poland, where, according to Habib, prime assets yield between 6.5 and 6.75 per cent and mid-range assets 7.5 to 8.5 per cent, against comparable UK yields of 4.5 per cent and 6 to 6.5 per cent respectively.
Due diligence on Polish property can be time consuming, warns Habib, but he points out Fprop Opportunities will have a 10-year life and will go for investments with the estimated potential to show a 15 per cent annual internal rate of return. 'Our style is to get cracking, prove what we can do and let more investors come in,' he declares, while First Property has undertaken not to let its own stake in the fund fall below 7 per cent.
At 17.5p, against a year's high of 18.5p and a low of 14p, First Property shares value the company at £19.2 million.
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Iraq-focused oil explorer Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) has begun drilling at the Sheikh Adi-2 well in the Sheikh Adi block.
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