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UPDATE 2-Orco says delays publication of results

Published 03/16/2009, 01:50 PM
Updated 03/16/2009, 01:56 PM

* Delays results till end-March

* Reviewing operational and strategic options

* Orco trading suspended, to restart Tuesday

(Adds trading to be restarted)

PRAGUE, March 16 (Reuters) - Struggling developer Orco Property Group said on that it was delaying publication of its annual results until the end of March as it could not complete them by the planned March 17 release date.

The developer also said it would review its strategic options.

"In challenging real estate market and credit conditions, the board of directors of Orco Property Group has asked the management team to pursue its in-depth review of both operational and strategic options," the company said.

The company has been hit by a tightening of bank financing, a drop in real estate prices and defections by several top managers, which analysts said may be one of the reasons for the delay of the results announcement.

Shares in the property group, which has activities around central Europe, have lost more than 95 percent since the beginning of 2008.

Trading in Orco's shares and bonds was halted on Monday morning in all three markets it is listed -- The Prague Stock Exchange, European exchange group Euronext and the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

The developer said it intended to keep the stock off the market until the accounts were published at the end of March.

However, the Prague Stock Exchange said later on Monday the shares would restart trading on Tuesday, saying in a brief statement that the reasons for the suspension ceased to exist.

Trading was also due to restart in Warsaw.

A spokeswoman for Orco was not immediately available for comment on the relaunch of trading.

Analysts said the suspension would prevent the biggest shareholder, the Czech fund Prosperita, from continuing in recent share purchases that according to regulatory filings, had raised its holding to above 5 percent.

Orco reported at the beginning of February a 10.5 percent rise in 2008 revenues to an estimated 299.3 million euros and repeated it expected turnover to reach at least 277 million euros in 2009, but with unsecured sales this could possibly be pushed to 391 million.

It cut its 2008 outlook to 300 million euros, from 343 million in November, as the extent of the slowdown in central European property markets became clearer.

The global financial and economic crisis has hammered the region's economies and forced banks to get stricter in lending. (Reporting by Jana Mlcochova and Jan Lopatka; editing by Simon Jessop and Karen Foster)

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