Faced with the historic crisis hitting the new real estate sector, the management of Nexity, France’s leading real estate developer, announced that it would put in place an employment protection plan (PSE) in 2024.
“The group has decided to initiate the information-consultation process of the IRPs in the coming weeks [instances représentatives du personnel], prior to the implementation of a job protection plan »Nexity announced in a press release, which has not yet defined how many jobs would be affected. “We are going to adapt our business and our costs”CEO Véronique Bédague told the press, adding: “If we want to produce affordable housing, we have to reduce costs. »
In 2023, the group experienced a difficult year, suffering from a halt in new construction, caused by rising construction costs and difficulties in accessing credit for buyers. Its accommodation reservations eroded by 19% in number and 24% in value. Results which remain better than in the French market as a whole, which fell by 26%, underlines Nexity. Its turnover, down 9% to 4.27 billion euros, is slightly below its target of 4.3 billion euros, revised downwards in the middle of the year.
No dividends for shareholders
The group is also refusing to pay a dividend to its shareholders, although until now it had wanted to offer them a payment of at least 2.50 euros per share. To compensate for this year which he describes as ” low point “and to control its debt, the group has sold its Portuguese and Polish subsidiaries, and above all wants to offload its services branch.
Nexity announced at the end of 2023 that it had entered into exclusive negotiations with the investment company Bridgepoint to sell it its property administration branch, valued at 440 million euros and which employs some 3,100 people, or more than a third of its workforce. And it is still looking for buyers for its corporate real estate management and distribution activities.
Nexity, which has reduced its net debt from 820 to 776 million euros, has set itself the objective of bringing it below 500 million at the end of 2025. The group is not setting other quantified objectives for 2024, waiting to see the evolution of interest rates and public policies, and hoping “a rebound in 2025”.