Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Rom Real 4th Quarter 2020 Results Presentation. I am Haris Palandas, Investor Relations from Rome Real, and I will be guiding you through this presentation. The Q4 report and investor presentation can be found on our homepage, www.romreal.com or alternatively on www.newsweb.no. Please turn to Page 3 of this presentation distributed today. Here we are seeing the Q4 2020 result highlights.
The net asset value was €0.36 or NOK 3.87 before any tax paid per share, that being 18.2% lower compared to the end of the Q3 2020. This lower indication is affected by the end of year valuation performed by Knight Frague during February 2021, and the values of the Group Investments property have been updated accordingly. So like for like values for the investment properties shows a decrease of about 7.3% during 2020, reflecting the general market challenges brought by the pandemic always according to Knight's flag. With regards to operational highlights, during the Q4, the components of the further 16 plots in a very difficult year on the Ovidiu Lakeside project, the full compensation of those being €360,000 Also during the Q1 of 'twenty one, the company sold 4 more plots for a total of €160,000 Oil prices are in line with the 2019 IFRS valuation by Nightfryne. During 2020, €1,100,000 without VAT.
I have been further invested in infrastructure, primarily in the industrial park and lakeside, preparing those plots for further development and marketing. Industrial Park, the sale of the 3 ports totaling of about €800,000 has been terminated for the time being. The company is planning to file a lawsuit against the local water utility. The Balada market property is marketed for sale, but court case has been commenced as a local municipality has withdrawn Urbanization Certificate issued in 2015. Please turn to the next page.
For the financial results, the net result for the quarter was €2,94,000 loss compared to a loss of €800,000 the same quarter last year. The net change in cash flow for the quarter was a negative €1,350,000 compared to a negative €0,1200,000 in the same period last year. This was mainly due to the group's decision to make a €1,500,000 payment in relation to the tax dispute with the local tax authorities to benefit a waiver of any potential penalties. Accounting wise, the company has also booked a provision for the same amount according to IFRS standards. At the end of 2020, the company had a cash position of €1,200,000 plus a total of €42,000 in asset sale receivables related to binding sales agreements.
That totals to €1,62,000 or about €0.04 per share. Now Romania's GDP contracted during 2020 by 3.9% compared to a growth rate of 4.1% in the previous year. This is according to flash data by the National Institute. In the 4th quarter, Romania fell 1.5% year on year following a 5.7% annual contraction in the 3rd quarter. On a quarterly comparison basis, Romania's GDP rose by 5.3% during the last quarter of the year, which was a surprise rise in the GDP.
During January 2021, average industrial prices in Romania reached an average price of €13.61 per square meter in beginning, a slight increase of 1.1% compared with the same period last year. In Constanza, average prices at the end of January 2021 reached EUR 1245 housing in euros per square meter, showing an increase of 1.8% compared with the same period last year according to the largest online platform immobiliare. Ro. Please turn to the following page. This is a page that shows the net asset movement in Q4 of 2020.
Investment Properties stands at €2,700,000 Assets held for sale are €2,200,000 whilst inventories at €8,400,000 As indicated previously, cash is at 1.2, including another €400,000,000 of other assets. This gives us a net asset value of €15,000,000 EURO. Now the change was again because of the CHF end of year valuation that took place this month, provides a negative change in the NAV of 18.2% or €0.36 per share. The average number of shares used in the EMEA calculation has remained unchanged from the previous quarter of 2020. Please turn to the next page for the financial highlights.
The Operating revenue during the Q4 of 2020 was €446,000 compared to a total of €428,000 reported in the same period last year. This consists of the revenue resulting mainly from the disposals made during the quarter as well as the end earned by the company in respect of some of the plots. Total operating expenses amounted to €480,000 compared to €127,000 in Q3 2019. The main element of cost relates to €220,000 unrealized loss on the Rome French plot. Other costs are split across the general administrative expenses and payroll costs.
The other operating income or expense during the quarter was a loss of €3,400,000 reflecting 3 things: the value adjustment resulting following the independent valuation report The extraordinary cost incurred in relation to the disputed tax and the movement in the euro on exchange rate. During the Q4 of 2020, Rome real generated an operating loss of 3 point €5,000,000 compared to a loss of €491,000 during Q4 2019. Foreign exchange result was a net gain of €5,000 compared to a net foreign exchange loss of €298,000 during the same quarter in 'nineteen. During the quarter, the run lost 1.89% to the euro. The company's policy is always to hedge its effects by retaining most of its cash in euro and always by denominating all receivables in euros.
The result before tax was a loss of almost €3,500,000 compared to a loss before tax of €789,000 during the Q4 of 2019. The company's cash and cash equivalent position at the end of the quarter was €1,200,000 compared to €2,500,000 at the end of the Q3 2020. In addition, a total of €247,000 in outstanding payments related to binding sales agreements, which provides a total of €1,500,000 The proceeds from the restitution case in Mamaea North plot is not included here. Please turn to the next page. Here we see a table of the ROMEO properties as they stand in Q4 2020.
The total land bank size is 267,914 square meters with basically plots in Constanza North of Itau and Central Constanza. For further information on the properties, you can visit our web page, www.romemrail.com. Please turn to the next page. Here we have the operational highlights. On the Lake side, there was a sale of 16 plots in 2020, which has been a difficult year.
And so far in the Q1, another 4 plots have been sold. Oasis, which is number 3 on the table, The company is following exactly the same plan as the Lakeside in order to reauthorize the works for finalizing the blocks erected in order to add value to the whole plot and construction and bring utilities in the area. With regards to the industrial park, A conditional sale of the Freeport announced in previous reports of €800,000 has been terminated. The company is planning to file a court case against the local water utility that has laid pipe works under the land without receiving the proper permissions from the company. Now Palada Market, The court case has been commenced as the local municipality of ID withdrew an urbanization certificate as finished in 2015 without legal justification.
The court case, of course, is making a sale of the Ballada market more demanding. Furthermore, the company is looking for additional ways of increasing the income received from the ballada market. In Badulescu plot, the company is planning to regulate the plot for residential use. As we have seen with the success of the Lakeside project and also followed with the Oasis plots. But the rescue plot is ideal for residential use and there is significant demand from the local community for buying plots in that area.
And the plot is located very close to the Lakeside project. Please turn to the next page. With regards to this additional claim, the company, as we announced before, successfully obtained a late 2020 final and irrevocable order of the Costanza Court of Appeal that provided the restitution of the land in full. The piece is already sold for €39,000,000 to the buyer of the Mamaea North plot. And as soon as the official court verdict will be received in writing, the transfer of the plot will be done to the new owners and the company will receive the cash.
This is expected sometime during the Q2 of 2021. With regards to the tax authority contestation, the case has been on the Court of Appeal agenda on the 13th January 2020. The Court of Appeal is expected to issue a decision in respect of its legal process before the 1st March of 2021 and we'll keep investors up to date with any developments. Please turn to the next page. After developments in Romania, we've seen the gross domestic product dropping by 3.9% during the pandemic compared to 2019.
In Q4 2020, the gross domestic product increased in an unexpected way by 5.3% compared to the Q3 of 2020. There have been almost 800,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and Romania is one of the leading European countries in terms of vaccination, ranking 7th among the EU member states. Please turn to the next page. Here we see an update on the real estate. Now total investment volume accounted at the end of 2020 was around €600,000,000 which is almost half of what it was registered in 2019, but similar with the ones registered in 20 team that was the starting growth year.
Capitalizing on the momentum gained in the previous year, 60% of the total investment volume was transacted during the 1st 6 months of 2020. Romania issued about 41,000 building permits for residential plots, which is slightly down 3% compared to the previous year. However, during December 2020 alone, building permits for residential projects were up by an annual almost 11% higher versus 2019, showing the appetite going into 2021 and also out of the coronavirus pandemic. Other price developments in the next page, please. We are seeing that prices in Romania have remained relatively flat during the Q4.
Also the same in Costanza, average Prices remain also relatively flat as we're seeing in January. However, compared with October 2019, Prices are about 1.8% higher. Please turn to the following page. This Page with the top 20 Romeo shareholders as of the 23rd February this year. This is placed here for your convenience only.
The further information can be found on our webpage. Here we have the main focus areas going forward. Romareal is focusing on land value enhancing activities in order to improve the shareholder value and exit. This includes, amongst others, sales and marketing efforts and EfDIM required some infrastructure investment. The ongoing tax dispute and 2 new cases, Ballada Market and Industrial Park, adds uncertainty and reduces the financial flexibility and any capital optimizing activities are currently not a realistic alternative.
The management is working hard to ensure that all of these cases turn out positive as much as possible and within the legal framework. Thank you very much for joining us and for participating. This webinar will be uploaded to our homepage, www.romereal.com, for your convenience. Myself and Chairman of Real, Katie Gronsgaard will be available for questions by e mail or phone. We wish you a very good day.
Thank you.