Helios Faros invests 12 million euros in the completion of Amicor and preparations for the new Arkada project

The completion of villas and accompanying tourist facilities in Amicor Green Resort in Stari Grad on the island of Hvar, as well as the continuation of preparations for the new hotel project before the demolition Hotel Arkada, represents an investment of 12.1 million euros approved by the Supervisory Board of Helios Faros, as reported on the Zagreb Stock Exchange. This is a continuation of a significant investment cycle that was jointly entered into by the PBZ CO pension fund and Valamar Riviera in Hvar, following the acquisition of the company in 2019.

It is worth noting that in September last year, the share capital of Helios Faros was increased by just over 8 million euros, aimed at continuing investments that have so far included the reconstruction and opening of the Places hotel and the construction of the eco resort Amicor along with accompanying facilities. The biggest challenge remains the demolition of the large Hotel Arkada and the construction of a new hotel in its place, envisioned as a five-star hotel.

In the capital increase process from September, the share capital of Helios Faros was raised by issuing new ordinary shares, with the PBZ Croatia osiguranje pension fund investing 6.43 million euros for 4.83 million shares, while Valamar Riviera is entering with 1.6 million euros (pension funds hold 77.6 percent of the shares in the Hvar company, while Valamar holds 20 percent, plus minor shareholders).

Shareholders, upon entering this project, undertook the obligation of recapitalization in defined amounts and established deadlines, and with this payment, their obligation will be fully executed. In September, they clarified that the increase in share capital would be invested in the continuation, i.e., completion of the investment cycle, the construction of villas and accompanying tourist facilities in the Amicor Green Resort, which is partially completed and opened to guests, and has already proven to be very successful in the market last season.

This is a unique project in Croatian tourism, built to the highest standards of green construction, with minimal impact on the environment, allowing for the complete recycling of new accommodation units due to the application of prefabricated construction that saves energy, accelerates the assembly process, creates controlled production conditions, and allows for easy disassembly of parts of the facility that can later be reused.

In addition, solar panels are used as an energy source in Amicor, while the use of paper and traffic is minimized with the operation of exclusively electric transport means. Furthermore, single-use plastics have been eliminated, and energy efficiency systems with nearly zero energy consumption are being introduced, including ‘smart home’ technology that allows for the measurement of water and energy consumption and CO2 footprint. During 2022, the first phase of the construction of the Valamar Amicor Green Resort was finalized, and 32 renovated Trim apartments, 24 new eco villas with an accompanying reception building, the Oliva restaurant, the Aquamar water park, and the Maro children’s playroom were put into operation. Since the beginning of 2023, the Company has continued its investments and, after obtaining all necessary permits, began and completed the construction of an additional 41 eco villas in the Amicor resort by early June. In addition, investments in existing facilities have continued.

As stated in the Helios Faros business report for the third quarter of 2023, last year the process of resolving a large number of administrative, judicial, and other procedures before the competent authorities continued, in order to carry out proper registration and eliminate and delete registered outstanding burdens and encumbrances on the Company’s real estate in the land registry. Thus, all outstanding burdens on the lands for which there was no basis have been resolved, and by the publication of the financial reports, Helios Faros concluded another court dispute in October 2023, and an additional 1018 square meters of land was registered, generating an additional 50 thousand euros in book value.