OREANDA-NEWS. December 29, 2009. XXI Century Investments Public Limited, Ukraine's leading real estate investment, development and property management Company, today issues its Annual Report and audited Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2008.

Financial highlights:

Revenue increased by 281% to USD 77 million (USD 20.2 million in 2007) reflecting sales of residential apartments in our Capitoliy and Parus projects which were nearing completion at the end of the year, and a 30% increase in rental income, primarily from the opening of our newest shopping centre, Kvadrat-Perova shopping centre.

The significant increase in construction and related costs of USD 67 million reflect the near completion of residential premises Capitoliy and Parus in 2008.

The net loss of USD 1,556 million for the year is primarily due to the very substantial write-down of the Company’s property portfolio by USD 1,334 million which reflects the global financial crisis and its severe impact on the Ukrainian economy which then went into recession and resulted in a collapse in property values.

The Company's real estate portfolio was appraised by CB Richard Ellis and as at 31 December 2008  the value of the Company's share amounted to approximately USD 474 million compared to USD 2.18 billion at 30 June 2008, and USD 2.1 billion at 31 December 2007.

Net Asset Value, excluding minorities, at 31 December 2008 was USD 165 million compared to Net Asset Value of USD 1.8 billion at the previous year end. The very substantial decrease in the value of our property portfolio reflects not only the significant deterioration of property values in Ukraine, but also some property sales at distressed prices in the second half of 2008 which the Company was obliged to make in order to meet the coupon payment on the Notes, and also payments on debt obligations to banks.

Operational highlights:

At the end of March 2008 the Company opened its first hypermarket - gallery format shopping and entertainment complex, Kvadrat Perova, on the left bank of Kyiv  with a GLA of 19,000 sqm. The centre is anchored by X5, the largest food store chain in Russia, and serves a residential community of approximately 110,000 in the catchment area.

In September 2008, the Capitoliy premium class residential complex was commissioned and virtually completed by the end of the year.

In October 2008, the Parus business class residential complex was commissioned and was virtually completed by the end of the year.

While construction permits and project approvals were received for several projects - Petrivka and Brovarsky business centres; Kvadrat Myloslavska shopping centre; Berezneva, Poltava and Cherkasy mixed-use projects; and Voznesenskiy Yar residential complex - and preliminary construction works were commissioned on others – Lviv, Virlytsia and Sevastopol mixed-use projects– all developments and capital expenditure were frozen because of crisis conditions in the economy, and the financial challenges facing the Company.

During the year, the Company also consolidated ownership in some properties (Alupka Shaktar and Poltava), and then sold others (Lisnyky and Kvadrat Balzaka, and our partnership in Kharkiv).

The Annual Report and the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company for the year ended 31 December are available on the Company’s website: www.21.com.ua

A  conference call for investors is planned for the second half of January 2010, with details to be announced at a later date.