Nepi Rockcastle has delivered a robust start to the year, boosted by its assets in Poland and Croatia.
On Thursday, the group — the largest listed retail landlord in Central and Eastern Europe — reported a 3.4% rise in net rental and related income in the quarter ended March to €157.7m (R3bn).
Net revenue from energy activities increased to €2.3m from €1.9m, reflecting the ongoing scaling of the group’s renewable energy platform.
“Cost recoveries remained strong, with service charge income covering 96% of property operating expenses in the first quarter of 2026. The group continues to benefit from inflation-linked rental agreements and proactive asset management across the portfolio,” it said in a business update.
Like-for-like tenant sales increased 3.8% in the first quarter, with growth outpacing inflation. Footfall was up 0.6%, while the average basket size improved by 3.3%, underpinning the sales uplift.
Cash collection stayed strong, with a collection rate of 98% for the first quarter of 2026 and 99.9% for 2025 revenues, as of May 2026.
“The first quarter of 2026 confirms the underlying quality of our portfolio. We continue to capture rental growth through indexation and active asset management, while maintaining very high occupancy and strong collection rates,” CEO Marek Noetzel said.
Noetzel took up the CEO role at the beginning of April.
“The momentum in markets such as Poland and Croatia remains encouraging, and our flagship assets continue to demonstrate pricing power and resilience,” he said.
The group continued to advance its estate development pipeline, with key projects such as the Promenada Bucharest extension progressing as scheduled.
Noetzel said Nepi was rolling out photovoltaic (PV) capacity across its portfolio and progressing greenfield PV projects in Romania, reinforcing the long-term potential of its energy platform as a complementary growth driver for the group.
“These priorities, together with prudent balance sheet management, position us well to deliver on our 2026 objectives, even as certain markets face a more challenging macroeconomic backdrop. Our portfolio quality, strong tenant base and disciplined capital allocation give us the resilience to navigate these headwinds and continue delivering sustainable growth,” he said.
The group’s loan-to-value ratio (LTV) was 32.4% at the end of March, below its 35% long-term upper threshold.
Like-for-like tenant sales (excluding hypermarkets) increased 3.8% in the first quarter, while sales performance showed a positive trend, with strong year-on-year growth in January, moderating in February and March largely due to a strong base effect from the prior year.
Performance across countries varied, with the strongest momentum in Poland and Croatia, steady progress in Bulgaria and Hungary, and more moderate trends in Romania and Slovakia against a softer consumer backdrop. he said.
Leasing activity remained strong, with 315 leases signed on 78,382m² of gross lettable area (GLA), of which 108, or 43% (by GLA), related to new leases representing 1.4% of the group’s GLA. The remaining 207 leases were renewals. New leasing activity continued to be anchored by international retailers.
“Our leasing activity in the quarter focused on strengthening the retail mix and expanding the pipeline of new units in fashion and entertainment,” Noetzel said.
He said the Promenada Bucharest extension remains on schedule, with 85% of the overall mixed-use scheme GLA signed or with terms agreed on.
In Bulgaria, final permits for Promenada Plovdiv are expected in the second quarter. In Romania, a building permit was obtained for Galati Retail Park, with the opening date expected in the second half of 2027 and the majority of GLA secured through leases signed or agreed on.
Nepi Rockcastle’s development pipeline exceeds €800m over the next three years, including developments, extensions, refurbishments and the green energy programme, of which €338m was spent in the first quarter.
The group’s earnings guidance for 2026 remains at about 3% growth over 2025 distributable earnings per share, subject to trading conditions and execution of planned initiatives, it said.