Hello, welcome to the Nexity conference call for Q3 business activity and revenue. This conference is being recorded. Throughout the presentation, if you would like to ask a question at the end of the presentation, press star one on your telephone keypad. Over now to Mr. Jean-Claude Bassien, Deputy CEO of Nexity.
Thank you, and thank you all for joining us this evening for this earnings call. I'm joined, as per usual, by Pierre-Henry Pouchelon, Secretary General in charge of Finance, whom you know well, the investor relations team. With him, there's a new feature this evening, which is the absence of Eric Lalechère. Many of you have known him for several years. You probably know that he has retired, and we'll have Karine Renouil, deputy CFO, joining us.
So as per usual, I'll give you an introduction on the momentum over the past nine months. Pierre-Henry will present the figures, and then, we'll be able to have a Q&A session. So by way of introduction, what would I like to underscore? Let's start with something pretty obvious that needs to recall, because the backdrop to our business sector has deteriorated, and we can illustrate the level of deterioration by continued rising rates during 2023, +160 basis points in the first nine months of the year. Second, is the production of real estate mortgage. There's -44%. That's a key number that will have an impact on individual investors and customer. That market's drying up fast. And the third factor linked to the second is new home reservations down.
H1, latest figure published, -31. We can expect the next number that will be released to be even less favorable. Against this backdrop, what are the dynamics at play? What I can say is against the backdrop, that is, what is, is that the momentum is fully in line with that achieved during the first half of the year. That's to say, we're outperforming our market with a drop of 20% of our bookings for residential real estate. And Pierre-Henry will come to that in a moment, but it positions us very favorably in our immediate competitive universe. Second point I'd like to underscore in my introduction is that we're fully factoring in the new market situation.
For a while now, we've been indicating that this new market equation reflects a structural change in our market, and we're adapting our roadmap accordingly, and we said as much recently through our CEO. We're accelerating our roadmap by focusing it on the two main drivers of the strategic roadmap, urban regeneration and new lifestyles, accounting for over two-thirds of the generation for Imagine 2026 roadmap. In addition to the refocusing, she also announced to the market a process of seeking strategic and financial partnerships for service business management and distribution. I can confirm this evening that that process is underway, that we have counsel to support us, including an investment bank. More about that in due course after Pierre-Henry, who'll present the revenue for Q3.
Thank you, Jean-Claude. Good evening, everyone. Regarding residential activities, we have 9,213 bookings. September 30 is down 19.5% in volume and 27% in value, in line with the first half. Bulk sales, which are growing and partially offsetting the decline in retail sales, mainly impacted by the withdrawal of individual investors due to the credit crunch. Allow me to comment on our sales strategy. The difference of just to three points between volume and value transfer to retail reflects a strategy of holding our sales prices as low as possible. It is therefore difficult to compare ourselves with the market when sales strategies differ. A commercial real estate is evolving in a market that is standstill.
In the latest data on commercial investment in France show a 57% fall over the first nine months and a 74% drop for the quarter. Against this backdrop, order intake was very low, at EUR 32 million, including over EUR 20 million in the region of South France, notably Bordeaux Belvédère. Services were driven by service to properties with high occupancy rates in both student residences and co-working facilities. The property management business is stable, with recurring sales, and all this with a 15%-20% exposure to the mix, i.e., limited exposure to intermediary leasing or transaction activities in all the buildings which are in decline. Lastly, the backlog came to six, or rather EUR 5.5 billion, down mainly due to the progress of major real estate projects such as the EcoCampus de la Garenne-Colombes and the stalled commercial property markets.
In addition, we are reloading our backlog very selectively and are therefore bearing the decline in favor of profitable operations. Please note that we are currently working on adapting potential sales and the other component of our pipeline. In other words, all our operations under promise are secured through options. On the one hand, this involves reviewing all operations in the light of new market conditions, and on the other, integrating the deal signed with Carrefour. The deal, which covers the development of 76 sites, is progressing rapidly. The conditions precedent for almost 90% of the sites were due to be lifted before the end of November, enabling the creation of the landholding joint venture at the same time. In the previous slide, I mentioned the good momentum of bulk sales.
They are up 9%, which enables us to post a total variation in volume of -20%, outperforming the market. Once again, trends in line with the first half. These figures are the result of an agile sales policy pursued by the group since the end of Q1 2022, shifting its bookings from retail to bulk sales. This strategy is enabled and facilitated by the long-term partnerships forged between Nexity and private and public landlords. The graph on the right-hand side shows the customer mix at the end of September. Bulk sales accounted for 58% of the mix of bookings, an increase of 15 points compared to the same period in 2022. The drop in retail sales is mainly due to the withdrawal of individual investors who are now unable to get loans.
FYI, they were 43% of our bookings at 30th September 2021, 40% at the same date in 2022, and 26% in Q3 2023. We believe that this mix in favor of bulk sales is sustainable, and we're actively working on adapting structure costs to improve profitability. A quick update on our supply for sale on slide nine. By continuing to control commercial launches, we can confirm the downward trend in supply for sale at 8,500 rental units, down 15% compared with 2022. We only launch what we know how to market. We have a cautious policy with the required pre-sales rate to raise it to 60% before land acquisition.
This policy has been in place since the beginning of the year, and this enables us to limit our supply under construction to below 40%. And this also means that more than 60% of our supply is constantly reworked to reflect new market conditions, and that we allow ourselves the possibility of reconfiguring the operation and changing the product mix or even abandoning it if the requirements are not met. Our completed stock remains limited to around 100 housing units and insignificant amounts in value terms of around EUR 30 million. Slide 10 discusses the long-awaited zoning overhaul announced following the work of the CNR, National Refoundation Council, which has finally come into effect. This was highly awaited and has finally come into effect.
In concrete terms, this means that more than 150 municipalities have been reclassified as supply-constrained areas, making them eligible for the Pinel scheme until the end of 2024, and also for the LLI, the Intermediate Rental Housing scheme, the extension of PTZ zero interest loan schemes with subsidized returns for investors. With 80% of Nexity supply for sale located in the newly zoned supply-constrained areas, with a positive impact of 10 points and 26 branches located in areas newly zoned A or B1. This measure confirms the relevance of Nexity's territorial coverage and represents a real business opportunity in the short term and, medium term, as well as a growth driver for the medium term. As far as commercial real estate is concerned, we've talked about that.
The market has come to a standstill, with investment volumes down by more than 50% across France, including in the regions outside Paris that were previously spared. We are at the bottom of the cycle in terms of promises or agreements signed, but this is being cushioned by the progress of our major projects underway, including La Garenne-Colombes, which contributes over EUR 200 million to sales over 2023 and 2024. Other noteworthy projects include Reiwa, future head office in Saint-Ouen, due for delivery in May 2024, or the Deloitte Training Center, due for delivery by the end of the year. It's a major project for which we won an award at the last MIPIM Real Estate and Urban Planning event.
Regarding services, the property management business confirms its resilience with a portfolio of 823,000 housing units under management at the end of September 2023. Here, we're talking about, condominium management and rental management. Over 70% of this is repeat business. Please, please note that energy renovation obligations represent real business potential for the condominium management business, with almost 112 project management assistance contracts approved since the start of the year, against a target of 140, representing 6,500 renovated housing units. The service properties business continues to grow. In the co-working business, 14 sites were opened during the year, bringing the total surface area under management to almost 130,000 sq m, plus 18% compared with the end of 2022.
Occupancy rates for spaces open for more than 12 months are close to 100%. Student residences are also doing very well, with an occupancy rate of 97%. Two new sites are due to open by the end of the year, bringing the total number of residences to 133. Unsurprisingly, distribution activities continue to be impacted by the market environment and the slowdown in the residential property sales to individual investors. Let's move on now to an analysis of sales to the end of September. Sales were stable at EUR 2.9 billion. Residential development, which accounts for almost 70% of total sales, was down 5% at nearly EUR 2 billion. Sales of residential housing in France were down by 4% due to the slower pace of notarized deeds signed since the beginning of the year.
The consolidation of Angelotti and acquisition completed in October 2023, 2022. This is a planner and a developer in the Occitanie region. This is going well with a contribution of EUR 100 million in Q3. In international residential housing, sales were down by 18%, so -EUR 11 million. This was due to the sale of Poland and Portugal, which were finalized in June and August, respectively, and in line with the schedule. Sales in commercial property development rose by 45% or EUR 113 million, so rose to EUR 362 million, benefiting from the progress of onboard projects, mainly La Garenne-Colombes, EUR 200 million in Q3, and our Revoir headquarters.
Excluding distribution, sales and services, property management and service properties came to EUR 485 million, up EUR 44 million, or 10% on end-September 2022. Services to properties driving the group's growth, sales came to 193, or rather, 198 million, up EUR 43 million, so up 28%, driven mainly by the increase in the customer base of the Morning Coworking company. The full-year impact of the 13 spaces opening in 2022 and the three new openings in 2023. Studéa's good growth on the like-for-like basis, plus 10%, is also noteworthy, as our student residences business operates in a buoyant market with a shortage of supply.
Sales in the distribution business, meanwhile, follow the trend in the individual investor market for new housing, with sales down EUR 56 million or 29% to EUR 139 million. Thank you for your attention. I'll now hand over to Jean-Claude for the last part of the presentation.
So this last part will first of all focus on our ambitions in terms of low carbon. We've been championing this ambition for many years now. We have a few noteworthy highlights as we move in through Q3. The trajectory 1.5 degrees was endorsed by SBTi in July. We're very proud to join the Euronext CAC SBT 1.5 index since the fifteenth of September. For the fifth consecutive year, we've obtained all the possible awards of BBCA this year, and so we're extremely proud of that. Lastly, equally important, if not more, we're extending our partnerships with major players to support us in our constructions on the Schneider, Saint-Gobain. These are partnerships that we're continuing to extend on this front.
Next, a key question to be addressed and answered: what impact does this have on our business? And so you can see on the slide shown here that our transactions that we won because we have this low carbon ambition. Lyon Confluence, we couldn't have won the deal without our low carbon commitment. Carrefour, the two finalists on the Carrefour partnership were most identified in their low carbon policy, and so we won this major deal. We'll be able to roll out under this transaction our strategic partnership with TopHat. This deal is significant and defining for Nexity. 768,000 square meters, potentially 12,000 housing units. That's a very defining deal, one in this regard. Turning now to our guidance, it remains unchanged for 2023.
That's the guidance that we adjusted at the end of H1 this year, and it remains unchanged and of course, subject to changes in the market environment. Why? Because it's degraded, as I indicated, and so it's necessary to guard against a possible further deterioration. As far as we're concerned, the watch points identified the potential impact on what remains to be done, because there's a high degree of seasonality in Q4, so it's important to execute Q4 in a stable environment. And then there's also the environment of our ecosystem with a deterioration that we're seeing on the construction front, construction activity. We need to make sure that all this remains stable so as to deliver on our targets.
Against this backdrop, we're continuing on the items of operational steering that is tied to steering, as we call it, and we're going to maintain our targets. We're strengthening our operational efficiency across the board in all business, with a proactive plan to cut our overheads of some EUR 30 million full year. We're confirming that, of course, a freeze on jobs, non-replacement, reorganizations, reduced number of subsidiaries, centralizing certain functions, everything that can be done to contain our cost base. We're also managing strictly our development risk by keeping a close watch on our WCR. We're gradually emptying our land bank and keeping a close watch on inventory, stock rotation. We've also planned to implement our disposal plan international. We finalized the sale of our Polish unit, as well as our development activities in Portugal.
We're continuing to gradually reduce and eliminate management of residual operations abroad. So that's for operational management and for strategic forecast. I said I'd return to that as a conclusion. The priority is, of course, to refocus the roadmap, and we're doing that with in mind some priorities, accelerate pivoting towards sustainable cities and urban regeneration. We see it day in, day out, endorsed by the market. The market of tomorrow is that of urban regeneration. It's important to move towards that and take position. We have initiatives with the setting up of Nexity Heritage, the new Nexity brand for urban regeneration, Apprent Siri and Patrimoine and Valorisation. We've announced our partnership with TopHat that you heard mentioned earlier, a key player, British player in modular construction.
We're gonna roll this out for the Carrefour deal. Second major thrust of this refocusing, we're rolling out our offer of managed products because that meets the demand, both of users in and investors. We're accelerating our co-working activities, students residences, and co-living. And lastly, the third component of refocusing the roadmap is to give ourselves the means to deliver on our ambitions. We launched in October the digital platform for the distribution of savings products. And above all, we've embarked on a process of strategic and financial partnership service this retail distribution. The idea here is to continue to develop with service businesses. All businesses need to have the means to expand. If we focus our roadmap on sustainable cities and urban regeneration, we must find other means to allow services businesses to grow, hence the strategic partnership.
So all options are on the table, even, including opening up the capital of these companies to a third party. Thanks for your attention, and we're now available to take your questions.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Once again, if you have a question, please press, star one on your telephone keypad. First question, Christophe Chaput from ODDO, over to you.
Yes, good evening to you all. Thanks for taking my question. I've got a few. The first, in your bookings, can you perhaps indicate the number of units that have been booked over the nine, CDC Habitat and Action Logement? You've got, kind of, commitments in the end of the year, early, 2024 in terms of, booked units. Returning to the service partnerships in management and distribution, more specifically, what type of partner are you seeking?
More, financial, or are these, sector players to accelerate synergies? And if they're financial players, what's lacking today to accelerate synergies? And a final question, a bit naive, sorry, but why operations doesn't, operations don't seem affected by the search for partners? Thanks.
So the first question on the bookings, I mean, we don't give them obviously by counterparty. Obviously, they impact a significant number of block bookings. Action Logement, CDC, we've already signed deals with them through the first nine months. Of course, great many things coming down the pipe as in the what's left to be done with Jean-Claude Lotte to be signed with these two major players, 'cause you know that they have significant purchase commitments with property developments, and we plan to weigh in on that for the market share that we represent.
That's the first. On the second one, so partnership services, what type of partnership are we seeking? Well, clearly, the rationale that we followed was really to leverage our client base and to develop cross-marketing, offering services. We're looking for partnerships that allow services that will extend their offering. So as to meet this quest for synergies, that's clearly what we're looking for. What type of partner? Well, partners who can meet that condition. Obviously, when you open up to that type of opportunity, well, players show up, and we'll assess them when they turn up, depending on who they are and their ability to deliver the ambition.
To date, I can't really characterize the profile of partner that are lining up to date, but you have my answer on our focus, which is to continue to forge synergies through framework agreement or strategic partnerships. That's the first point. Well, the second point on operation stems from my answer to the second question. Clearly, why did I indicate that the search for partnerships is primarily focused on management and retail distribution? It's 'cause the level of synergies that is embedded on operations is already very high. So we're not closed to partnerships here. But given the level of synergies achieved and the interaction that we're looking for between managed real estate and development, well, operations to operate is not a priority.
We're already well advanced, and we need to have a significant contribution to show interest in an opportunity that might arise. The priority is the two other segments.
Okay, that's very clear.
Thanks. Next question, Emmanuel Parot from Gilbert Dupont.
Yeah, good evening. Thanks for taking my question. In fact, I have three. The first on nine months bulk sales, to know whether the margin notched up over the nine months was comparable to what you've achieved these past few years. That's my first question. Second point on cost efficiencies. If I heard you, you mentioned EUR 30 million cost savings full year, and you seem to indicate that we won't be at EUR 30 million full in 2023, but rather in 2024. If you could just clarify those numbers, please.
The third point, just to pick up on Christophe's earlier point, the possible opening up in the share capital for some of your services. Well, I was kind of questioning the rationale of this transaction. It'd be pretty strict. So my question—if you bring in a minority partner, we can logically expect there to be a put and call system that might lead to the sale down the road of those activities. Is that an option on the cards or not at all on the table? I'll take the first two questions, Emmanuel. Good evening. So bulk sales, answer yes, and it's all the negotiations currently underway with the landlords to agree on the price levels and margin levels to maintain the margin levels that we have.
So the margin levels are comparable to those signed, thus far, and negotiations underway for those remaining for Q4. Cost savings, yeah, it'll be a full year visible in 2024, because in Wajanka, there are a great many things that concern replacements. There are higher freezes, payroll, issues that will only kick in fully, have an impact, full year. On the third point, here again, it enables me to be, crystal clear. We're adapting our roadmap, as I said, to the environment. We're refocusing it. So, we've really we've heard loud and clear the message from the market. The market message, for the, the second half of 2022 was focusing on debt, leverage issues. We heard that. In the first half of the year, we also heard that, market message.
What's the link with opening up the share capital? The priority issues on the business front is to be able to grow our synergies and forge strategic partnerships. That makes sense. Well, these strategic partnerships, as I indicated in answering the earlier question, well, they work. As regards the possibility of becoming a minority, as I said, all options are on the table, including of opening up the share capital and becoming a minority holder. In that, with that in mind, the impact on our deleveraging is not to be overlooked.
Okay, that's very clear. Thank you.
Merci, Monsieur Parrot.
Many thanks, Mr. Parot. This is from Mary Fort. Observations regarding guidance 2023. I'm looking at the bookings for the distance to go in terms of revenue. Could you please give us more color regarding the risks incurred by your partners, including construction companies? Any risks when it comes to your ability to deliver projects that are underway? ... Regarding bookings for Q4. Q4 is a significant quarter for your business. There was already a significant decline last year, bearing in mind that the month of October is almost over. Are we looking at the similar trends as for the first nine months of the year, or can we expect a less negative performance than your performance of the past nine months?
I apologize for getting back to this, but all analysts are pretty surprised by this reversal in strategy, the fact that you're giving up on services. So this is what I would like to know. In financial terms, would you also be willing to divest 100% of your services business, should an opportunity arise? Would you like to take the first question?
Okay, regarding the seasonal aspect of our business, if you look at our history, 40% of our revenue is property development, but bookings and actual contracts signed are two separate things. Of course, the distance to go is all about the margin from sales and revenue. So no change relative to previous years, and this is why our guidance remains unchanged.
Of course, our mix is more driven by bulk sales, and we're focusing on executing our distance to go when it comes to actual contracts signed. Yes, market conditions are sustainably adverse, so that's something we need to keep a close eye on, and this is why we adjusted our guidance at the end of July. Works had ramped up as a result of defaults by construction site operators, so that's something we're monitoring in-house. And of course, if the ecosystem continues to deteriorate and the value system of our contractors is impacted, this can, of course, have an impact on the technical execution and progress of our construction sites. As far as services is concerned, Jean-Claude will answer. I apologize in advance, dear Marilyn, but I disagree with your statement according to which we are giving up on the services business.
I disagree, and you're perfectly poised to observe this. We are faced with the most brutal crisis our industry has ever been faced with, and we simply cannot sweep this under the rug or pretend nothing's happened. We can't continue to roll out a roadmap, business as usual. So we are making adjustments, but we're not giving up on our core business. Yes, we want to be able to pivot towards urban regeneration, because that's what the market will look like in the future. Forget about potato fields. Those days are over. I find it surprising that nobody is highlighting how much structure the Carrefour deal will provide to Nexity and the rest of the sector. So 12,000 housing units over a 10-year period, do the math, in terms of what this means for potential sales and profit margin.
This is a significant pivot, so we need to fetch those projects. So yes, this is more capital intensive, it's more binding, and we need the wherewithal to make it happen. But building the cities of the future require mixed usage, and this includes services. So that's something that we're continuing to track, but we are making adjustments because we cannot do it all by ourselves. At the same time, we are not giving up on our strategic objectives, but we are adapting our wherewithal based on the circumstances, and we're looking for strategic partnerships that we can deliver part three of our roadmap, which is leveraging our customer base over the long term using partnerships that make sense. Regarding your last question, we are operating within a particular market, and we have to deal with those market conditions.
So we will look at every potential opportunity, and we will decide what makes sense and what serves the interests of Nexity and its shareholders.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, once again, if you'd like to ask questions, please press star followed by the digit one. Now, Christophe Bineau at RG Capital. Go ahead, sir.
Hello? My name is Mike Janeski. I work with Christophe Bineau for RG Capital. A quick comment regarding your partnerships and potential disposals of services. As shareholders, we encourage exploring that avenue, and we applaud the group for being so responsive. Yes, you're dealing with a difficult market environment. A couple of quick questions on this, if I may. Firstly, please give us an approximate deadline for those potential divestments and partnerships in services.
Also, an approximate target or objective for the envelope we're talking about, the approximate amount of liquidity that you're hoping to raise using these potential divestments or partnerships. Are we talking EUR 100 million or potentially EUR 500 million? F or such projects, such future projects. Regarding dividends, that'll be my last point. We expect dividends to be scaled back significantly this year, considering the current market conditions. I apologize for being blunt, but why not temporarily removing the dividend and using the money to fast-track operations elsewhere?
Thank you very much for those questions. I'm afraid my answers won't satisfy you 100%. Regarding services, we just got the process started. We have initiated the process. We have selected consultants, a corporate investment bank in particular. You've been following us for some time now, so you know that we like to move fast.
So speed and execution is one of our trademarks, and I cannot give you a deadline to date. Hopefully soon. Same thing regarding the quantum. It all depends on the scope of consolidation and who we are dealing with, et cetera. Of course, we have things in mind when it comes to leveraging our services business, but execution will depend on what we're dealing with, and it's still early days, so I can't tell you yet. Regarding dividends, we have issued a very clear statement, and let's start with this. We have clearly heard what the market has to say, what financial analysts around this table had to say throughout 2022. We've heard them loud and clear. In terms of dividends, we have made the necessary adjustments, and dividends will now be determined by our performance as observed and also our level of debt.
If those elements mean that we have to take drastic decisions, we will take such drastic decisions, but this will be based on metrics to be measured at the end of the fiscal year.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
No more questions. Over to you, Bassien, for any other additional remarks or for your conclusion.
Many thanks to the financial community for attending this, conference call. You heard me say this several times already. Messages from the market have been heard by Nexity loud and clear over the past 12 months. Thank you very much. Have a great evening.
Merci, monsieur. Madame, monsieur, merci beaucoup.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending tonight's conference call. You may now hang up.