The real estate developer Orco Property Group SA, which is active in central and eastern Europe, has plunged into the red amid stagnating real estate markets in parts of eastern Europe and the worldwide credit crisis, the dpa reported.
The Luxembourg-registered group reported a loss of 14.1 million euros (20.6 million dollars) in the first half of 2008, down from net profit of 55 million (80.7 million dollars) in the same period the previous year.
The company's first-half sales dropped by 9.6 per cent from 125 million euros to 113 million euros (183.4 to 165.8 million dollars), the company said, confirming numbers announced in early August.
The group's real estate net asset value dropped from 91.7 euro per share in December of 2007 to 83.9 euro per share six months later.
The developer said its drop in equity was caused by "the negative net result for the first half of 2008, the cash dividend payment an the purchase of the group's own shares".
The group reiterated it expects 343 million euros in revenues in 2008 and valued its portfolio on consolidated basis at 2.7 billion euros.
The property group, which is active in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Croatia, Germany and Slovakia, is listed on the NYSE Euronext and the Prague, Warsaw and Budapest stock markets.