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Solving problems brings in wealth | Business | The Phnom Penh Post

One of Cambodia’s true rags-to-riches success stories is that of Din Somethearith, co-founder and executive director of Frangipani Villa Hotels.

Frangipani, named for the blossoming tree, is a chain of boutique hotels, one of which is located just off Street 178 at number 43, down a narrow lane which opens into an outdoor garden and dining area with adjacent hotel reception.

A student of alternative financial thinking and an avid reader of self-help author and financial literacy activist Robert Kiyosaki, Din believes in 10-year rental agreements, focusing on the people, a stand against sex tourism and distinguishing between “good assets” and “bad assets”.

“Cambodia was poor so I want to make my country better. I don’t want my country to be remembered as poor and for the Khmer Rouge. I want it to be prosperous with smiling faces,” he said.

“We work with orphanages and we give bicycles. We have charity box where our guests and donate and we give another two thirds after that. If the guests give one dollar, we add double with two.”

While Din and his two partners are enjoying steady income from four villa hotels today, they started out far less fortunate, borrowing what they could from relatives and friends, building their way forward step-by-step.

Born in Phnom Penh in 1974, Din was ten months old when the Khmer Rouge took over. Now he’s 38 years old, with a Thai wife and a son.

With a mother from Kampong Cham and a father from Prey Veng, young Din was forced with his family to move to his father’s town in Prey Veng. His father had worked for the government, so he was sent away for “re-education” and was never seen again.

“I knew him only through photos.”

Din and his one elder sister survived as small children through the Khmer Rouge period.

“My mother worked very hard, 10 hours per day on the farm and it was very tough to survive because we were city people.”

When Din’s mother was asked to go to another province where the soil was fertile and the living was easier, she recognized one of the Khmer Rouge soldiers was wearing a shirt that belonged to one of the people she’d seen earlier who had left on a similar trip to Pursat or Battambang to a “prosperous land” and a “better life”.

She made a cover story that the kids had diarrhea and saved the family.

“My mother was very smart. She recognised the shirt that had belong to someone they killed.”

Finally, after liberation in 1979, the family with 4-year-old Din came back to see their old house in Tuol Kork, which was abandoned, but the area was a kind of Vietnamese army camp.

“They allowed us to come into our house but we could not live there because it was like a military camp. A few months later during the early the place had settled down. Din and his family lived at street 188 in Boeung Keng Kang 1.

“During that time there was no water supply, no electricity. We got our water from the river,” he said.

Few people had shoes to wear in those days but gradually the Phnom Penh markets started to carry them.

“My mother bought some shoes for me, but they got stolen the next day at school because none of the other kids had shoes.”

“We were not clear if the Khmer Rouge would come back or not, and we didn’t trust the Vietnamese either. We stayed with my uncle and my mom in a shop house until 1989.”

Din enrolled in Sisowath High School, graduating in 1992. He remembered that when the United Nations arrived, Cambodia really changed.

“People rented out villas to the UN staff and some people got money very quickly. Demand for housing was very high and land prices increase dramatically at that time.”

Din won a competition to learn architecture on a scholarship at the Institute of Khmer Habitat. He worked closely with Danish-trained architects and designed a lot of social projects including health centers.

Following his graduation in 1999, Din went to work full time for UN habitat, working as a technical officer on a lot of different projects before winning a scholarship to the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok where he earned a master’s degree in Urban Environment Management.

During his two years in Bangkok he met the lady who would become his wife, Saranya, who is a landscape architect and teacher at Thailand’s prestigious Chulalongkorn University. The couple have one son, Supicha, age 7.

After his schooling in Thailand, Din returned to Cambodia and worked for the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and JICA all as a consultant in urban development. The Cambodian government offered him jobs, but he refused. In 2007, Din became country manager for UN Habitat.

“The work was very tough, dealing with city issues, evictions, and my life was difficult dealing with officials.”

Able to save a few thousand dollars, Din began thinking about building a small boutique hotel. They found a villa dating back to 1960 along Street 252, which happened to be owned by one of his friends’ mothers. Because of not much money between Din and his partners, it took eight months to complete the renovations.

Within six months the rooms were mostly full of foreigners, from Europe, America and Australia. From the very beginning, they insisted on good behaviour in the hotels: no smoking and strictly no sex tourism.

All Frangipani Villa hotels have solar heating systems as well.

The second property Din and his partners acquired was on Street 71 near the World Vision office.

“We made 15 rooms, took more loans from the banks, and borrowed some money from relatives. I and my partners kept working during that time.”

In 2009 Din and his partners found an opportunity in Siem Reap at a time when a lot of guest houses there were closing and materials were cheap.

Today, the Frangipani Villa Hotels group has five properties, totaling 140 rooms, all of which are leased for a term of 10 years. Din and his partners intend to buy the properties when the leases are up.

Din is influenced heavily by the work of Robert T. Kiyosaki, a Japanese-American from Hawaii who promotes alternative thinking in finance.

“He teaches us to start out small and use leverage. He said if you want to be rich, you have to serve a lot of people, and you have to be able to solve many problems. You have to know how to use debt and distinguish between good debt and bad debt.”

According to Din, good debt is that which somebody pays for you — like servicing a loan with rent payments — and bad debt as that which you have to pay yourself.

“Our customers pay our debt.”

Din agrees with Kiyosaki against investing for capital gain like a gambler, encouraging instead a business that creates money by using information.

All of the Frangipani Villa Hotels are finished in tasteful architecture, environment friendly, with solar hot water systems throughout.

“We run the business to solve people’s problems. Foreigners who come want to have a clean environment with social responsibility. We don’t run the business for money. We want to build jobs for my people.”

Din is proud to be Cambodian and encourages others who are poor to have ideas, invent new businesses, use leverage and realise their dreams.

“The power of financial education is that you realise you don’t need to own it. You don’t need a 30-year lease. That’s a lot of your life. Ten years is enough. To run a business, it is not about money; it is how you use your idea. You don’t require that your parents are big business people. I keep telling people that I came from poor family with no father and no shoes to wear. “


To contact the reporter on this story: Stuart Alan Becker at stuart.becker@gmail.com

Article source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012051456140/Business/solving-problems-brings-in-wealth.html

VacationRoost Chosen by JetLiving to Provide Home, Villa, and Vacation Rental Inventory

SALT LAKE CITY–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

VacationRoost and JetLiving today announced a partnership that provides
additional vacation rental inventory on www.jetliving.com.
The new inventory gives JetLiving’s customers access to book the widest
selection of private homes, villas, condos, and vacation rentals
throughout North America, Hawaii, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
Additionally, JetLiving’s customers will have access to comprehensive
vacation planning services, such as airfare, ground transfers, rental
cars, activities, and other local excursions. Guests are able to book
these services through JetLiving’s website or with the assistance of
in-market customer service experts available seven days per week.

“The additional inventory from VacationRoost will expand our services to
80 destinations and extend our capability to deliver everything our
guests need to plan a vacation. We are excited to increase the areas we
serve through VacationRoost’s extensive inventory,” said Brandon Ezra,
CEO of JetLiving.

VacationRoost has a deep background in online booking for vacation
rentals
to over 80 popular beach and ski
destinations
and will provide the JetLiving brand with a greatly
expanded vacation rental inventory and full travel planning services.
“JetLiving is an exciting brand with a reputation for delivering luxury
vacation homes and unique vacation experiences to its customers. We
believe that JetLiving’s audience will be delighted by the expanded
choice and vacation rental options that this partnership provides,” said
Julian Castelli, CEO of VacationRoost.

The expanded vacation rental inventory launched on www.jetliving.com
in March 2012.

About JetLiving.com LLC

JetLiving is based out of Los Angeles, California with offices in
Mammoth Lakes, California and Park City, Utah. With a dedicated focus on
managing and renting short term vacation properties JetLiving has
continued to grow its client and location base with synergies and
quality. By utilizing state of the art cloud based software and internet
technologies we maximize our client experience and surpass our
competitors with ease. Our continued dedication of providing
revolutionary cutting edge marketing strategies and exploring new
avenues of social networking brings JetLiving to a higher level of
commitment to our clients that will entice people to stand up and take
notice.

About VacationRoost Inc.

Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, VacationRoost’s team of experienced
travel professionals is committed to making booking a vacation rental as
easy as booking a hotel room online. VacationRoost.com offers consumers
the ability to book over 150,000 professionally managed vacation rentals
online and package with air, car, and travel services. VacationRoost’s
Partner Services division provides partners with the ability to utilize
the VacationRoost reservation platform to book vacation rentals and
other travel products on their own sites and to offer their customers
complete central reservation travel planning services. For more
information, visit www.vacationroost.com.

Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/vacationroost-chosen-jetliving-home-villa-232800791.html

PRESENTING: The World's Most Opulent Villas

Villazzo

Villazzo

What kind of holiday rental home costs $10,000 a day?

Perhaps one set on a private Caribbean beach, with a personal fleet of boats and Wave Runners? An Alpine chalet, with postcard-perfect views of the Matterhorn from every window?

Or maybe a personal spa, with a lap pool, hiking trails, a state-of-the-art gym—and an on-call personal trainer to make sure you use them?

Click here to check out the Villas

The answer: yes, yes and yes. For today’s new generation of well-heeled travelers—who are increasingly eschewing hotels for private rental villas—the bar for luxe hideaways has reached dizzying heights. For a certain breed of jet-setter, home theaters, Ducasse-worthy kitchens and private bars stocked with top-shelf liquor are all de rigueur; what they’re after are award-winning chefs ready to whip up personalized dinner-party menus or on-demand yachts with captains who know the best deep-sea fishing spots.

Somewhat ironically, this surge in over-the-topness could be considered a by-product of harder economic times. “Before the global financial crisis there was a glut of high-end construction,” explains Brian Sharples, founder of HomeAway, a network of villa rental websites representing 650,000 properties with prices ranging from a few hundred dollars up to $392,000 a week. “Many owners of luxury properties who were over-leveraged have now turned to rentals as a way to defray ownership costs.” The result is a super competitive market where added extras like sports cars and ski equipment are as common as evening turndown treats in hotels.

While many of the world’s most opulent villas lure guests with an array of cool toys (and we do mean cool—how does recording studio equipment once used by John Lennon sound?), others deal in what may be the most coveted holiday-home currency: privacy. Is it any wonder that rock stars and royals duck the paparazzi by hiding out on islands like St. Barth and Mustique (particularly when there are homes like Shogun—set alone on a cloistered estate and reminiscent of a Japanese imperial palace, koi pond included)?

Of course, for those seeking true sanctuary, the right vacation villa is only part of the equation; the right staff is also key. (After all, a Viking stove isn’t much use if you’re a terrible cook; and 17,000 square feet seems like a lot, when you have to vacuum it yourself.) That’s why many of the villas on our list come with phalanxes of personnel. Many also offer private transport—via luxury car, boat or helicopter—to zip guests anyplace they desire. But, really, when your home away from home is as outrageously opulent as these villas, why go anywhere else?

This story was originally published by Departures.

Article source: http://www.businessinsider.com/presenting-the-worlds-most-opulent-villas-2012-5

Condo, villa rental market booming in Phuket amid high demand


Rental accommodation in Phuket is seeing strong demand from both Thais and foreigners, resulting in the launch of budget condominiums, Knight Frank Phuket director Nattha Kapapana said.

Condos are springing up in many parts of the island, and most of them offer rental guarantees of 6 per cent, for three years in some projects in Patong and nine years for another project in Karon. Prices of studio units range from Bt3 million to Bt5 million. The projects have estimated daily rental rates around Bt3,800-Bt4,800 for the high season from November to April, whereas the rate during the low season is forecast at Bt1,500 per day.

Despite the sluggish European economy, Phuket attracts people from around the world and has always been a popular choice for holidaymakers, and more of them are choosing to rent private villas instead of staying in hotels. There was a big improvement in rental demand for Phuket villas and condominiums during the high season last year, Nattha said.

He added that this time around, lessees are coming from a greater variety of places, with Hong Kong and Singapore expatriates, Russians, Koreans and Indians joining Europeans as key arrivals. Rental periods range from three days to one or two months depending on nationality. Europeans prefer to stay longer, for at least a month, whereas Asians choose to stay on a weekly basis.

Last year, there was a significant increase in inquiries for rental accommodation on the Andaman island. This coincided with the growth of tourist arrivals in Phuket. There were about 4.2 million passenger arrivals at Phuket International Airport in 2011.

The Russian influx has picked up momentum every year. With competitive destinations like Egypt and Turkey becoming political unfeasible, it seems that Thailand resort destinations such as Phuket will continue to attract visitors and investors from Russia.

The average length of stay by Russian tourists is about two weeks. Koreans generally stay for four to seven days and mostly prefer Bangtao.

The rental rate varies by unit size, unit type, facilities and amenities of the project as well as the location. A three-bedroom villa with usable area of 242 square metres in the Laguna area costs about US$1,000-$1,250 (Bt31,000-Bt38,600) per night during the peak season. The rental rate of a project in Kamala is $2,000 per night for a four-bedroom villa with usable area of 950sqm on a land plot of about 1 rai (1,600sqm).

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Article source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Condo-villa-rental-market-booming-in-Phuket-amid-h-30181408.html

Rents soar as foreclosure victims, young workers seek housing

A nation still struggling to clear up one housing debacle has run smack into another — soaring rents.

The foreclosure mess has pushed millions of former homeowners with tarnished credit into a competitive apartment market across the U.S. Add fresh demand from young workers, few new units and tight standards for home loans, and the result is rental sticker shock not seen in years.

Rents are surging from New York to Los Angeles. The average monthly U.S. rent for apartments hit $1,008 in the first quarter, pushing past the all-time high set in the third quarter of 2008, according to the data firm RealFacts. USC’s Lusk Center for Real Estate forecasts a 10% jump in Los Angeles County rents over the next two years. In certain markets, it is now cheaper to own a home than rent.

Menachem Krinsky of Hancock Park recalls how in late 2008 every street seemed ornamented with “for rent” signs when he first moved to Los Angeles from the East Coast. Back then, his landlord was so desperate to keep him as a tenant that he slashed his rent of about $2,000 by $800 after Krinsky’s first roommate bailed on the lease.

These days, however, Krinsky’s search for a one-bedroom apartment costing around $1,500 is shaping up to be a major headache.

“I am looking for something clean and new, and unless you want to spend a fortune, it’s hard,” said Krinsky, a 22-year-old art director and graphic designer.

Units that years ago would have languished for weeks are snapped up in days. The Santa Monica-based listing service Westsiderentals.com is operating 14 hours a day to meet demand from renters. The company has even seen a bump in interest for its “platinum” relocation service, which offers to chauffeur clients to various Southern California listings.

Ellie Balderrama, who lists properties in Los Feliz, Silver Lake and Atwater Village for TheRenterGirl.com, said that as many as 20 people have showed up at some of her open houses. The ones who win arrive with completed rental applications and deposits in hand.

“In L.A., people have gotten so used to how relaxed it was, they are not aware how competitive it’s become,” Balderrama said. “Some people have got it, and some people don’t, and the ones that don’t suffer.”

Rob Magnotta, a real estate agent, recently listed his two-bedroom Irvine condominium for rent on Craigslist for $2,300. He had six applicants within 24 hours, including one who wrote a poignant letter about losing a home to foreclosure.

“It was almost too easy,” said Magnotta, who chose another renter. “I know the rental market was strong. But until you are actually renting the place, I think you are surprised it is that strong.”

A big driver of rent increases has been demand from young workers who are striking out on their own after doubling up with family members during the worst of the economic downturn.

Alaia Williams, 27, recently moved out of her mother’s Inglewood apartment to be nearer to her job at a Santa Monica tech start-up. She and a roommate are splitting the $1,400 rent on a two-bedroom apartment in Palms.

“We can’t afford to live” closer to work, she said.

People who’ve lost their homes to foreclosure or short sales are also feeling the sting. Damaged credit means many must pay a premium or put down a bigger deposit to secure a place.

Robert Corlette pays about $1,700 a month for a two-bedroom town house in Anaheim Hills that he shares with his wife and five children. The family lost their home to foreclosure in 2009 after Corlette lost his $75,000-a-year job selling insurance. His current job, also in the insurance industry, pays about half that.

“There is a lot of pressure,” said Corlette, 56. “It wears you down.”

The crash has made owning a home more affordable than renting in some markets. An index by the research firm Green Street Advisors compares buying with renting in 79 metro markets; that index hit its most attractive point last year for buying since 1991, when the firm began tracking the data. Researchers calculate that the after-tax cost of a mortgage is only 10% higher than what it costs to rent nationally after taking into account mortgage rates, property taxes and other factors.

Orange and Los Angeles counties remain more expensive for buyers than renters, though that gap has narrowed, according to the index, while owning a home in the Inland Empire is now more affordable than renting.

Rising rents have converted some renters into buyers. Scott Matulis, 48, recently purchased a town home in Oak Park after enduring two consecutive years of rental increases. His mortgage, taxes and homeowner association fees now total $2,200, just $100 more than what he was paying his former landlord.

“I finally just pulled the trigger and figured I’d be throwing money away on rent,” Matulis said.

Although rising rents may be motivating home purchases by people who are in good shape financially, those increases are walloping working class families and the poor — groups already hard hit by job losses, lost income and stagnant wages.

Marisela Alfaro has lived in the same one-bedroom Santa Ana apartment for 28 years. A large bed sits in her living room, where she and her husband sleep; their teenage daughters share the bedroom.

Modest religious art adorns her carefully kept home, but outside Alfaro’s door the building is in disrepair, with tattered screens, broken lights and graffiti. Alfaro said the family pays $820 a month and feels lucky to have the apartment.

“There are other places that cost much more,” she said in Spanish. “It’s been difficult because my husband works in the fields, and that’s the lowest salary that there is, and if there is no rain, there is no work.”

Even for those with better jobs, paying rent can be difficult.

Virginia Villa of Brea, a single mother of four who works as a manager at Disneyland, has doubled up with her adult daughter, who contributes $400 to the monthly household budget. Still, Villa said, about half her take-home pay goes toward rent and utilities.

“I have a decent job and I would love to buy a house, but I don’t think that’s possible to do,” Villa said. “In O.C., it’s even difficult to find a substantial apartment or especially a house to rent — the rental cost for houses is really high.”

alejandro.lazo@latimes.com

Article source: http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fi-renters-nightmare-20120506,0,3548128.story?track=rss

Rotonda Florida Villa Vacation Rental Just Listed on bobzio.com for Free

Luxury Rotonda Villa Vacation Rental listed today on http://www.bobzio.com for free. The home is in the Gulf Coast region within an hour of Fort Meyers airport. Visit bobzio.com for more photos and info.

(PRWEB) May 06, 2012

Beautiful, contemporary styled newer luxury villa rental situated in Rotonda lakes, Gulf Coast just listing on http://www.bobzio.com for free. This 3-bedroom home sleeps 6 people and is located less than an hour from Fort Myers International Airport, just 10 minutes from Englewood, 20 minutes from Port Charlotte, and close to many exclusive golf courses. Easy access to numerous shops and restaurants within minutes’ reach, all of which makes this one of the coasts most sought-after locations

Bobzio.com is a co-op of vacation rental owners, home exchanges and area services. Bobzio.com announces free lifetime listings for owners of vacation rentals. A comparable website with thousands of listings will charge up to a $1000 for such perks and listing benefits as bobzio.com offers for no cost.

Each owner will get unlimited photos, video upload, interactive reservation calender, Google map and email contact form. Bobzio.com is only several months old but is growing fast. More users are discovering the advantages of searching for rentals based on activities such as golf, theme parks, scuba diving and any activity imaginable including surfing.

http://www.Bobzio.com being a co-op is owned by the members. The ownership role will be determined when the first 20,000 have joined. There will not be a better time to get in on an opportunity like this that could save up to $1000 each year in subscription costs. The website also offers training on techniques to increase internet marketing exposure for individual listings and tips to get photos and videos to show up in some of the major internet search engines. Jump on board. The sooner the better. To see an example of a free listing visit http://www.bobzio.com/view_property_details.php?title=Cape-San-Blas-Vacation-Rental-Bayrock-2-on-http://www.Bobzio.com–6080-Cape-San-Blas-Rd,-Port-St-Joe,-Florida-pro_id=25.

Bobzio.com has created several strategic partnerships to assist with marketing and management of Vacation Retnals. One is DirectPlacement.co for help with Search Engine Placement (SEP). Visit DirectPlacement.co and ask about search engine placement (SEP) for the bobzio.com vacation property listing or homeexchange. Adam, the owner, is very knowledgeable about SEP and personable in his approach. There are no long term commitments or contracts to try DirectPlacement.co services.

The second strategic partnership is with Alan Lane, owner of DepositGuard.com. DepositGuard.com makes it possible for the individual owner to accept credit card payments and bank transfer checks. The fees are minimal and paid by the renter. The renter gains the security of an escrow agent safeguarding their rental deposits.

Here is a link to a YouTube video showing how easy it is to start a listing: http://youtu.be/qOwKNH0c7Gg

Michael Bobzien
bobzio.com
1-850-588-9691
Email Information

Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/rotonda-florida-villa-vacation-rental-just-listed-bobzio-040025571.html

Film Sets As Vacation Rentals (PHOTOS)

Vacation Rentals

Want to rent Edward and Bella’s honeymoon villa from “Twilight”? What about the insanely beautiful home Ari and Melissa Gold escaped to in the series finale of “Entourage”?

Home, apartment and condo rental site FlipKey.com has created a list of eight properties around the world featured in movies that ordinary Joes can rent. They come at a price, however. The “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” manse starts at $1,300 per night — not including a drop-in from Jude Law — while the “Twilight” house, by far the most convincing actor in that series, starts at $4,000 a night.

For more advice on how to travel like the stars (for instance: you can’t afford to) check out our Celebrity Travel Page.

All photos courtesy of FlipKey.com.









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Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/05/vacation-homes-from-the-m_n_1474629.html

Feds Say They Crack $80M Drug Heist From Enfield Warehouse

Two Miami men were charged Thursday with the sensational theft of $80 million in pharmaceuticals from an Eli Lilly Co. warehouse in Enfield two years ago, federal authorities said Thursday.

Amaury Villa, 37, and his brother, Amed Villa, 46, Cuban citizens living in Miami, are described by authorities as members of a sophisticated group of warehouse burglars and truck-hijackers responsible for thefts of large quantities of pharmaceutical drugs and other goods along the East Coast and in the Midwest. Federal authorities said they smashed the ring following a three-year, undercover FBI investigation.

Prior to the Enfield theft, the Villa brothers and others not identified by authorities traveled repeatedly from Miami to the Hartford area, apparently to spy on the 70,000-square-foot warehouse on Freshwater Boulevard. A Lilly security camera recorded one of the thieves peering through the front door of the warehouse three months before the theft.

On the night of March 13, 2010, and into the early hours of March 14, they are accused of cutting a hole in the warehouse roof and descending into the interior on ropes. Inside, they disabled parts of the security system and, over five hours, used a warehouse forklift to load 49 pallets stacked with boxes of pharmaceuticals into a trailer truck, federal authorities said.

The thieves leased the truck specifically for the Enfield heist, authorities said, and used the warehouse loading dock to fill it with cases of Gemzar, a chemotherapy drug for lung cancer patients; the antipsychotic Zyprexa; and Cymbalta and Prozac, used to treat depression and anxiety.

“As far as we know, this brazen crime was the biggest theft in the history of Connecticut and the largest theft of pharmaceuticals in the United States,” Connecticut U.S. Attorney David B. Fein said Thursday.

The Villa brothers are charged with theft and conspiracy in a federal indictment focused exclusively on the planning and execution of the Enfield warehouse heist. Amaury Villa and 10 others are charged in a separate Florida indictment that accuses them of selling and conspiring to sell stolen pharmaceuticals.

In yet another related case, federal authorities in Illinois said Thursday that they had charged Amed Villa with the theft in January of more than 3,500 cases of cigarettes, valued at more than $8 million, from a warehouse in Peoria.

And authorities in New Jersey have charged a dozen people associated with the same ring with conspiracy to steal and sell millions more in prescription andover-the-counter drugs.

Fein said that “virtually all” of the drugs stolen in Enfield were recovered in a warehouse in South Florida, but he would not elaborate specifically on the sale or attempted sale of pharmaceuticals stolen by the Villa brothers or others accused with them in Florida.

“The cargo theft of pharmaceuticals is on the rise, imposing a terrible cost on the industry and a danger to the public,” Fein said.

Industry experts have said that the numbers of thefts such as the Lilly job in Enfield have grown sharply as sophisticated criminals try to feed growing black market demand for high-priced prescription medications, including anti-depressants, blood thinners and insulin.

The Enfield warehouse is one of three national distribution centers that Lilly operates.

The theft there had similarities to hits on pharmaceutical warehouses a year earlier near Richmond, Va.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Olive Branch, Miss. Thieves there cut through roofs and sometimes used trapeze-style rigging to get inside and disable alarm systems. In some cases, they spray-painted security camera lenses; in others, they stole disks from the security recording devices.

Federal authorities in Florida said the group associated with the Villa brothers was responsible for the theft of truckloads of pharmaceuticals from truck stops in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Tennessee and from a GlaxoSmithKline warehouse in Virginia.

The brothers are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit theft from an interstate shipment and four counts of theft from an interstate shipment. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of five years. Each of the other charges carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

The Connecticut indictment, returned March 12 and unsealed Thursday, detailed evidence of travel between Florida and Connecticut, hotel stays in Windsor, the purchase of tools and the rental of cars and trucks in the run-up to the burglary.

Amaury Villa, sometimes accompanied by an unidentified associate, flew from Miami to LaGuardia Airport in New York or Bradley International Airport, where he rented cars. He booked rooms at least twice at the Hyatt Summerfield Suites in Windsor, including on the weekend of the theft.

On Jan. 9, 2010, Amaury Villa’s associate was recorded by a warehouse security camera. On Feb. 22, the thieves received email confirmation of the lease of two tractor-trailer trucks to a business for which Amaury Villa is a registered agent.

Federal prosecutors said that for about 10 minutes beginning at 10:22 p.m. on March 13, 2010, the night the burglary began, Lilly warehouse security cameras captured images of more of the thieves. It was after 10:30 p.m. that the thieves — using tools purchased at a Home Depot store in Queens, N.Y — cut a hole in the roof, descended inside and disabled parts of the security system, federal authorities said.

At some point during the theft, the indictment said, “Amed Villa touched a water bottle previously stored within the Enfield warehouse and left that empty bottle inside the warehouse after he departed.” Federal authorities would not say what they learned from an analysis of the bottle.

The indictment charges that the tractor-trailer left Lilly’s property at 3:40 a.m. on March 14, 2010.

Fein said Thursday that it “disappeared into the night.”

Later the same morning, Amaury Villa checked out of his hotel room in Windsor. His rental car was recorded passing through the southbound toll on the Whitestone Bridge in New York at 11:35 a.m. On March 15, according to the indictment, he flew back to Miami from LaGuardia.

The Villa brothers were arrested Thursday in Florida and are expected to be transported to Connecticut, where they will be presented at U.S. District Court.

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Article source: http://www.courant.com/news/breaking/hc-enfield-eli-lilly-drugs-0504-20120503,0,3819384.story?track=rss

Parque Arauco Reports First Quarter 2012 Results

SANTIAGO, Chile–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Parque Arauco S.A. (Santiago Stock Exchange: Parauco; Bloomberg:
PARAUCO:CI)
, one of Latin America’s leading shopping center
developers and operators, based on gross leasable area (GLA), reported
financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012. The
following financial and operating information, unless otherwise
indicated, was prepared and presented in accordance with IFRS. Under
IFRS, Parque Arauco consolidates 33.3% of the financial results of
Marina Arauco and Mall Center Curicó and 100% of the results of all
other properties. For a more detailed review of the results filed with
the SVS (Chilean Securities and Exchange Commission), please visit the
investor section of Parque Arauco’s website www.parauco.com/eng/.

“Parque Arauco continues to produce shareholder value through its strong
top line growth and high EBITDA margins. We have implemented an
investment plan to upgrade current properties, position our product in
fast growing markets, and diversify our portfolio geographically and
across product lines including shopping centers, strip malls, and outlet
stores.”

“In January, Parque Arauco successfully raised funds through a bond
issuance at competitive rates. These funds will fuel growth as Parque
Arauco seeks to strengthen and expand its presence and brand recognition
throughout the Andean region. In Perú, we opened two new operations:
MegaPlaza Chimbote and Mega Express Villa El Salvador. During the first
quarter, we reached an agreement to acquire the Santiago-based outlet
mall, Buenaventura. We view this property as the initial step to
increase our presence in the outlet store space. In addition, we are
very excited about our development pipeline as it will contribute to
diversifying and expanding the geographic reach of the Parque Arauco
portfolio,” said Chief Executive Juan Antonio Álvarez.

First Quarter 2012 Consolidated Results

Revenues for 1Q 2012 were Ch$ 22,964 million, a 16.5% increase as
compared to 1Q 2011. Total GLA expansion and rental revenue increases
were the catalysts for revenue growth improving 4.8% and 10.3%,
respectively. Total GLA in Chile grew 5.0% to 432,700 m2,
with the additions coming from expansions of current properties, Arauco
Maipú and Arauco San Antonio, and the partial opening of Arauco
Quilicura. Rental revenue from Chile improved 9.3%. In Peru, total GLA
increased 5.1% to 144,000 m2, driven by expansions from Mega
Plaza Norte and Mega Express Villa, while rental revenue grew 7.9%. In
Colombia rental revenue improved 51.0%.

Gross profit for the quarter was Ch$ 17,838 million, a year-over-year
increase of 9.8%. The cost of sales grew 48.1% to Ch$ 5,127 million with
additional expenses coming from increased infrastructure in support of
the Company’s expansion plan, new properties in operation, and
renovations of current properties.

SGA expenses decreased 15.8% to Ch$ 2,054 million due to a mixture of
savings and expense recovery from new properties graduating to more
mature stages. Administrative expenses include costs related to the
Company’s growth plans and cost restructuring initiatives, advertising
and marketing expenses as well as facilities costs which tend to be
greater in the first year of operation of new properties.

Depreciation and amortization expenses decreased 16.5% to Ch$ 466
million as compared to Ch$ 557 million in 1Q 2011.

The Company recorded EBITDA of Ch$ 16,248 million, a 13.1% improvement
compared to the Ch$ 14,364 million recorded in 1Q 2011. However, the
EBITDA margin decreased 2.1 percentage points to 70.8% as additional
expenses from the Company’s expansion plan partially offset additional
revenue from added GLA, rental revenue growth, and increased common
expense recovery at established properties.

Non-operating expenses of Ch$ 6,947 million were recorded in 1Q 2012
compared to non-operating expenses of Ch$ 5,146 million in 1Q 2011. The
principal contributors were higher net financial expenses associated
with the Company’s investment plan and revaluation of certain assets.
Net financial expenses increased 16.1% to Ch$ 3,453 in 1Q 2012. Other
expenses increased to Ch$ 700 million, compared to other expenses in 1Q
2011 of Ch$ 332 million. Foreign exchange differences contributed an
expense of Ch$ 518 million as compared to a Ch$ 159 million expense the
previous year. The inflationary environment that prevailed in 1Q 2012
resulted in a loss on indexed assets and liabilities of Ch$ 2,275
million, a 35.4% increase compared to a loss of Ch$ 1,680 million in 1Q
2011.

Net income was Ch$ 7,623 million, or Ch$ 10.85 per share, as compared
with net income of Ch$ 7,110 million, or Ch$ 11.60 per share, in 1Q 2011.
The weighted average number of shares outstanding during the quarter was
702.75 million as compared to 612.75 million in 1Q 2011.

FFO (“Funds from Operations”), defined as net income plus depreciation
and amortization minus a gain (loss) on indexed assets and liabilities
minus any gains (losses) on other non-cash items, was Ch$ 10,364
million, compared to Ch$ 9,348 million in 1Q 2011, an increase of 10.9%.

Cash and cash equivalents totaled Ch$ 148,728 million at the end of the
1Q 2012 compared to Ch$ 136,430 million in 4Q 2011. The Company
successfully raised US$ 81 million from a debt offering in January of
2012 in Perú. Net financial debt at the end of 1Q 2012 was Ch$ 215,753
million down from Ch$ 204,623 million in 1Q 2011. The Company remains
comfortably within its financial covenants with Liabilities/ (Equity+
Minority Interest) of 0.91 as compared to a limit of 1.4 and
EBITDA/Financial Expenses of 3.18, substantially above the requisite of
2.5.

Occupancy remained relatively stable as compared to the prior year.
Additionally, the Company owns a land bank of more than 600,000 m² in
Chile, Peru and Colombia for future developments.

New Pipeline of Developments

Properties announced to-date to be developed during this period include:

Buenaventura in Santiago, Chile: The Company entered into an
agreement to acquire the outlet mall property, Buenaventura, located
outside of Santiago, Chile. The transaction is representative of the
Company’s strategy to diversify its properties among shopping centers,
strip malls, and outlet stores. The investment in Buenaventura is
expected to be USD$ 32 million and the property will contribute
approximately 20,000 m2 GLA.

Mega Plaza Chimbote in Chimbote, Peru: Mega Plaza Chimbote was
inaugurated on April 24, 2012. The property has a GLA of 28,000 m2
and a total investment of US$ 26 million. The mall is expected to
contribute US$ 2.5 million in EBITDA on an annual basis.

Villa El Salvador, Peru: Villa El Salvador, a property of 9,000 m2
GLA, was inaugurated on April 12, 2012. The total investment was US$ 11
million. The mall is expected to contribute US$ 1 million in EBITDA per
year on an ongoing basis.

Arauco Quilicura in Santiago, Chile: In 1Q 2012, an
initial 9,700 m2 GLA opened with the inauguration of a home
improvement retailer. Progress remains on track for the mall which will
contribute 29,000 m2 of GLA upon completion in 2013, and which is under
construction since end of April. The investment is expected to be
approximately US$ 36 million with an ongoing contribution of
approximately US$ 4 million in EBITDA per year.

Expansion of Mall Arauco Maipú, Chile: The completion of the
third stage of expansion contributed an additional 9,000 m2
to the growing property. The fourth stage of expansion is centered
around the opening of a 14,000 m2 Falabella store expected to
open in early 2013. The estimated investment is US$ 15 million.

Strip malls in Chile: The Company completed due diligence on its
partnership with AURUS, a Chilean asset manager with a strong real
estate division, with whom the Company plans to develop strip malls
throughout Chile. Parque Arauco has a 51% stake and AURUS will co-invest
49% in the projects. The initial aggregate GLA is 12,000 m2
with AURUS contributing 6 operating assets to the format. The Company
plans to open 3 to 5 strip malls annually in 2012, 2013, and 2014. The
properties will operate under the subsidiary, Arauco Express.

Nine new projects in Peru over the next four years: The US$ 92
million investment for the first stage of this expansion of neighborhood
shopping centers will include a combination of Cencosud supermarkets,
anchor stores and smaller stores. The partner is the Wiese Family in
Peru who is also a partner in Mega Plaza Norte. The project has an
estimated EBITDA of US$ 10 million with opening dates ranging from
2012-2015.

Parque El Golf in Lima, Peru: In an exclusive area of the
country’s capital, this mall with planned GLA of 26,000 m2 to
include offices and a hotel is expected to require a total investment of
US$ 85 million and contribute an ongoing annual EBITDA of more than US$
9 million. The expected opening is planned for 2014 – 2015.

Parque La Colina, Bogota, Colombia: This large development will
include department stores, a Boulevard, a cinema and an office or
medical tower. It will have total GLA of 67,000 m2 and
investment of approximately US$ 244 million. This development is
expected to contribute US$ 30 million in EBITDA per year when opened in
2015.

Bucaramanga in Bucaramanga, Colombia: Parque Arauco’s second
property to open in Colombia, this development will have 30,000 m2 GLA
and will require an investment of US$ 100 million. Bucaramanga is
expected to contribute US$ 10 million in EBITDA on an ongoing basis.
Already under construction, the opening is planned for the 2H 2013.

1Q 2012 Operating and Financial Property
Highlights

Chile

Parque Arauco Kennedy (PAK): PAK generated total income of Ch$
8,201 million in 1Q 2012, a 6.5% increase compared to 1Q 2011. EBITDA
from the shopping center increased 3.3% to Ch$ 7,057 million from the
year ago quarter. The EBITDA margin decreased 2.6 pp as a result of
continued investments to upgrade facilities and renovate GLA to
accommodate higher margin tenants. Cost of sales decreased 2.1% to Ch$
238 million, while SGA increased 44.1% to Ch$ 906 million as a result
of renovation projects. The property continues to benefit from a strong
brand name and location and its sales totals were fairly balanced
between anchor tenants (41%) and small stores (50%), which led to a 4%
year-over-year increase in tenant sales to Ch$ 84,440.

Mall Arauco Maipú: This shopping center, located in a fast
growing, emerging middle class neighborhood in Santiago, Chile,
performed extremely well generating income of Ch$ 2,356 million in 1Q
2012, an increase of 24.5% compared to 1Q 2011, as a result of the
completion of a 9,000 m2 GLA. EBITDA improved to Ch$1,719
million, an increase of 31.6%, as compared to the same period of 2011.
In relation to 1Q 2011, the shopping center’s GLA increased 15% to
71,000 m2 and the property was able to achieve a 96.4%
occupancy rate.

Plaza El Roble: El Roble contributed income of Ch$ 1,017 million
during 1Q 2012, an increase of 7.0% from the same period in 2011. EBITDA
rose by 0.3% to Ch$ 733 million as compared to the previous year. The
cost of sales was up 70.0% to Ch$ 93 million in 1Q 2012 compared to 1Q
2011. The expiration of a temporary property tax holiday in 2011
resulted in higher cost of sales relative to the same period of the
previous year. The property’s entire GLA of 25,000 m2 is now
operating at an occupancy level of 98.0%.

Paseo Arauco Estación: Estación achieved total income of Ch$
3,354 million in 1Q 2012, a 10.6% improvement from the same period last
year. The mall’s EBITDA grew 8.9% to Ch$ 2,578 million. The property’s
GLA was 68,000 m2 a decrease of 4% from the previous year.
Cost of sales increased 70% to Ch$ 206 million. This is a property in
the process of changing the tenant mix and redesigning the GLA to
attract and accommodate more international brands and achieve a higher
rent/m2.

Arauco San Antonio: San Antonio contributed income of Ch$ 1,132,
a 13.8% improvement compared to the same period of 2011. EBITDA grew to
Ch$ 891 million, a 39.5% increase from 1Q 2011. GLA expanded by 2,000m2
as compared to the 1Q 2011. The anchor stores comprised 73% of the
quarter’s tenant sales, while small stores and the food court generated
18% and 7% of sales, respectively.

Mall Marina Arauco: This property, situated in Viña del Mar,
Chile, generated income of Ch$ 3,210 million during 1Q 2012, a
year-over-year increase of 7.2%. The property’s EBITDA of Ch$ 3,089
million grew by 7.0% as compared to 1Q 2011 levels. Forty-eight percent
of Marina Arauco’s tenant sales were generated by anchor stores, while
occupancy was 99.6% at the end of 1Q 2012.

Boulevard Marina Arauco: This innovative commercial center
located in front of Mall Marina Arauco opened in February 2011. Total
income grew 47.5% to Ch$ 495 million in 1Q 2012, with EBITDA of Ch$ 472
million. The property’s GLA now totals 12,000 m2. The
renewals of tenant contracts at higher rental rates and increased
variable rental revenues were the primary drivers of revenue growth.

Mall Center Curicó: This shopping center, located south of
Santiago, Chile, contributed income of Ch$ 1,024 million, an increase of
7.6% as compared to 1Q 2011, while EBITDA increased 13.5% to Ch$ 988
million. Anchor stores operate 78% of the property’s GLA of 50,000 m2.

Peru

Mega Plaza Norte: This shopping center, located in the Peruvian
capital of Lima, reflects the Company’s strategy in Peru to target low
to middle income areas, a market that the Company believes to be
underserved in the country. The property added income of Sol$ 14,023
thousand, a 14.0% increase as compared to the same period of the prior
year, on the strength of higher tenant sales and rental revenues as GLA
increased. The property posted EBITDA of Sol$ 12,227 thousand, a 25.7%
improvement from the previous year. Cost of sales slightly increased by
1% to Sol$ 2,244 thousand. SGA improved 71% as the property’s 30
million annual visitors enable the company to recover costs through
advertising on the property. Occupancy remained strong at the shopping
center, exceeding 99.0% and GLA increased by 8% to 83,000 m2.

Mega Express Villa: This strip mall property, located in
Chorrillos, Peru, contributed income of Sol$ 675 thousand in 1Q 2012, an
increase of 31.5% year over year. The shopping center’s EBITDA increased
by 19.4% to Sol$ 520 thousand compared to 1Q 2011. Cost of sales
increased to Sol$ 88 as a result of expansionary projects that
contributed to the 1,000 m2 increase from the previous year.
Tenant sales improved by 21% to Sol$ 11,211 thousand and came primarily
from anchor stores, which contributed 76% of the total, while small
stores generated 15%.

Larcomar Fashion Center: Located in Lima, the mall contributed
income of Sol$ 6,636 thousand in 1Q 2012. The center’s EBITDA decreased
by 11.4% to Sol$ 3,927 thousand compared to 1Q 2011. Cost of sales
decreased 15% to Sol$ 1,542 and SGA increased 55% to Sol$ 1,167. Tenant
sales for 1Q 2012 improved by 5% to Sol$ 43,484 thousand. The property
is in the process of upgrading its facilities and tenant mix.

Parque Lambramani: Located in Peru, this mall generated income of
Sol$ 2,395 thousand, a decrease of 8.3% relative to 1Q 2011. The EBITDA
of Sol$ 625 thousand was impacted by expenses related to the new
operations such as higher marketing and startup-costs. Cost of sales for
the quarter was Sol$ 703 thousand and SGA totaled Sol$1,067 thousand
due to advertising expenses, overhead and maintenance as part of the
campaign to strengthen its position in the Peruvian market. Total GLA is
at 28,000 m2, and the occupancy rate reached 92.0%. The
Company is focused on differentiating the property from peers by
specializing in entertainment and food, enhancing the customers
experience with the property’s unique and award winning architecture,
and attracting additional top line anchor stores.

Colombia

Parque Arboleda: This shopping center opened during the fourth
quarter of 2010 in Pereira, Colombia. The property utilizes a unique
rental structure that is atypical among the primarily condominium type
mall structures in Colombia and has proven a success to date. For 1Q
2012, Parque Arboleda contributed income of Col$ 3,234 million, 50.1%
increase over 1Q 2011, while EBITDA was Col$ 2,906 million, a 77.0%
improvement compared to 1Q 2011. The property has total GLA of 36,000m2.
The success of the Company’s first property in Colombia is reflective of
the expectations for Bucaramanga, Parque La Colina, and any future
developments in this fast growing market.

Outlook

Parque Arauco will continue to extend its regional footprint and has
developed an investment plan of approximately US$ 650 million to expand
its operations in Chile (17% of investment), Colombia (51% of
investment), and Peru (32% of investment) through 2016. In January, the
Company completed an approximate US$ 81 million debt offering, which,
along with free cash flow, debt at the project level, current liquidity
and partnerships, and the recent secondary equity issuance, enables
Parque Arauco to support the growth in its current and new developments.

Parque Arauco remains confident in its development plan throughout the
region. The expected outlook for EBITDA growth in 2012 7-9%, or Ch$
65,500 – 66,700 when compared to Ch$ 61,227 million in 2011.

About Parque Arauco

Parque Arauco, based in Chile, is one of Latin America’s largest
developers and operators, in terms of GLA, of retail real estate in
Latin America. Over the last 30 years, Parque Arauco has developed,
operated and managed shopping centers throughout Chile, where it
currently operates 8 properties. In Peru, the Company has interests in
six malls, and Parque Arauco has expanded into Colombia with the opening
of its first shopping center, Parque Arboleda.

This release contains forward-looking statements relating to the
prospects of the business, estimates for operating and financial
results, and those related to growth prospects of Parque Arauco. These
are merely projections and, as such, are based exclusively on the
expectations of management concerning the future of the business and its
continued access to capital to fund the Company’s business plan. Such
forward-looking statements depend, substantially, on changes in market
conditions, government regulations, competitive pressures, the
performance of the economies in which we work and the industry, among
other factors; therefore, they are subject to change without prior
notice.

 

 

 

Parque Arauco S.A.

 

IFRS

Ch$ thousands

Quarter Ending March 31,

 

2012

2011

Chg. %

Revenues

22,963,692

19,707,588

16.5

%

Cost of Sales

(5,127,297

)

(3,462,201

)

48.1

%

Gross Profit

17,836,395

16,245,387

9.8

%

Administration Expenses

 

(2,053,819

)

 

(2,438,353

)

 

-15.8

%

OPERATING INCOME

 

15,782,576

 

 

13,807,034

 

 

14.3

%

Depreciation Amortization

 

465,700

 

 

557,440

 

 

-16.5

%

EBITDA

 

16,248,276

 

 

14,364,474

 

 

13.1

%

Other Income / Expenses

(700,171

)

(332,308

)

110.7

%

Financial Income

1,657,644

658,638

151.7

%

Financial Expenses

(5,110,424

)

(3,632,882

)

40.7

%

Foreign Exchange Differences

(518,205

)

(158,998

)

225.9

%

Income (Loss) for indexed assets and liabilities

 

(2,275,447

)

 

(1,680,230

)

 

35.4

%

NON-OPERATING INCOME

 

(6,946,603

)

 

(5,145,780

)

 

35.0

%

Profit before Income Tax

8,835,973

8,661,254

2.0

%

Income Tax

(1,213,174

)

(1,551,154

)

-21.8

%

NET PROFIT (LOSS)

7,622,799

7,110,100

7.2

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Attributable to:

Equity holders of the company

7,186,185

6,318,056

13.7

%

Minority interests

436,614

792,044

-44.9

%

NET PROFIT (LOSS)

 

7,622,799

 

 

7,110,100

 

 

7.2

%

 

 

Quarter Ending March 31,

 

2012

2011

Chg. %

Revenues (Ch$ Millions)

22,964

19,708

16.5

%

EBITDA (Ch$ Millions)

16,248

14,364

13.1

%

EBITDA Margin %

70.8

%

72.9

%

-2.1 pp

Net Income (Ch$ Millions)

7,627

7,110

7.3

%

Net Income Margin %

33.2

%

36.1

%

-2.9 pp

FFO (Ch$ Millions)

10,364

9,348

10.9

%

FFO Margin %

45.1

%

47.4

%

-2.3 pp

Weighted Avg. Shares (million)

702.75

612.75

14.7

%

EPS ($)

10.85

11.60

-6.5

%

Stock Price (Ch$)

990.00

1,058.40

-6.5

%

Daily Traded Volume (Ch$ million)

1,197.81

917.79

30.5

%

Total Tenant Sales (Ch$ Millions) 1

265,593

248,741

6.8

%

Total GLA (m2)

610,700

583,000

4.8

%

Parque Arauco GLA (m2)

 

419,532

 

 

396,612

 

 

5.8

%

 

1. Total Tenant Sales = Sales of Consolidated Assets

 

 

 

 

(Ch$ millions)

March 31,

December 31,

 

 

2012

 

 

2011

 

% Change

 

Assets:

Cash and Cash Equivalents

148,728

136,430

9.0

%

Trade Accounts Receivable Other Receivables

14,477

14,933

-3.1

%

Other Current Assets

26,813

22,893

17.1

%

Total Current Assets

190,019

174,256

9.0

%

Investment Properties

714,134

701,810

1.8

%

Other Non-Current Assets

64,394

65,174

-1.2

%

Total Non-Current Assets

 

778,528

 

 

766,983

 

1.5

%

Total Assets

 

968,546

 

 

941,239

 

2.9

%

 

Liabilities Stockholder’s Equity:

Current Financial Liabilities

34,532

24,339

41.9

%

Other Current Liabilities

36,448

35,844

1.7

%

Total Current Liabilities

70,980

60,183

17.9

%

Non-Current Financial Liabilities

329,949

316,713

4.2

%

Other Non-Current Liabilities

60,336

60,762

-0.7

%

Total Non-Current Liabilities

 

390,285

 

 

377,475

 

3.4

%

Total Liabilities

 

461,265

 

 

437,659

 

5.4

%

 

 

Equity

Issued Share Capital

229,907

229,907

0.0

%

Accumulated Earnings (Losses)

241,994

234,807

3.1

%

Other Reserves

(12,597

)

(9,948

)

26.6

%

Equity Attributable to Company Shareholders

459,303

454,766

1.0

%

Minority Interest

47,978

48,815

-1.7

%

Total Equity

 

507,281

 

 

503,581

 

0.7

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Liabilities Equity

 

968,546

 

 

941,239

 

2.9

%

 

 

 

 

IFRS

(Ch$ millions)

*(Sol$ thousands)

Quarter to

*(Col$ millions)

March 31,

 

 

2012

 

2011

 

% Change

Total Revenues

Parque Arauco Kennedy

8,201

7,700

6.5

%

Arauco Maipu (1)

2,356

1,893

24.5

%

* Mega Plaza Norte

14,023

12,296

14.0

%

Marina Arauco

3,210

2,994

7.2

%

Boulevard Marina Arauco

495

336

47.5

%

Mall Center Curico

1,024

952

7.6

%

Plaza El Roble

1,017

950

7.0

%

Paseo Arauco Estacion (2)

3,354

3,032

10.6

%

Arauco San Antonio (3)

1,132

995

13.8

%

* Mega Express Villa (3)

675

513

31.5

%

* Larcomar Fashion Center (4)

6,636

7,007

-5.3

%

* Parque Lambramani

2,395

2,610

-8.3

%

** Parque Arboleda

3,234

2,155

50.1

%

 

Gross Profit

Parque Arauco Kennedy

7,962

7,457

6.8

%

Arauco Maipu (1)

2,140

1,605

33.3

%

* Mega Plaza Norte

12,545

10,835

15.8

%

Marina Arauco

3,109

2,915

6.6

%

Boulevard Marina Arauco

479

295

62.4

%

Mall Center Curico

1,015

922

10.1

%

Plaza El Roble

924

895

3.2

%

Paseo Arauco Estacion (2)

3,149

2,912

8.1

%

Arauco San Antonio (3)

983

857

14.8

%

* Mega Express Villa (3)

586

496

18.3

%

* Larcomar Fashion Center (4)

5,094

5,185

-1.8

%

* Parque Lambramani

1,692

1,687

0.3

%

** Parque Arboleda

3,103

2,034

52.6

%

 

EBITDA

Parque Arauco Kennedy

7,057

6,828

3.3

%

Arauco Maipu (1)

1,719

1,306

31.6

%

* Mega Plaza Norte

12,227

9,728

25.7

%

Marina Arauco

3,089

2,886

7.0

%

Boulevard Marina Arauco

472

291

62.4

%

Mall Center Curico

988

871

13.5

%

Plaza El Roble (2)

733

731

0.3

%

Paseo Arauco Estacion

2,578

2,366

8.9

%

Arauco San Antonio (3)

891

639

39.5

%

* Mega Express Villa (3)

520

436

19.4

%

* Larcomar Fashion Center (4)

3,927

4,431

-11.4

%

* Parque Lambramani

625

636

-1.9

%

** Parque Arboleda

2,906

1,642

77.0

%

 

Gross Margins

Parque Arauco Kennedy

97

%

97

%

0.3

%

Arauco Maipu (1)

91

%

85

%

7.1

%

Mega Plaza Norte

89

%

88

%

1.5

%

Marina Arauco

97

%

97

%

-0.5

%

Boulevard Marina Arauco

97

%

88

%

10.1

%

Mall Center Curico

99

%

97

%

2.4

%

Plaza El Roble (2)

91

%

94

%

-3.6

%

Paseo Arauco Estacion

94

%

96

%

-2.2

%

Arauco San Antonio (3)

87

%

86

%

0.9

%

* Mega Express Villa (3)

87

%

97

%

-10.0

%

* Larcomar Fashion Center (4)

77

%

74

%

3.7

%

* Parque Lambramani

71

%

65

%

9.3

%

** Parque Arboleda

96

%

94

%

1.7

%

 

EBITDA Margins

Parque Arauco Kennedy

86

%

89

%

-3.0

%

Arauco Maipu (1)

73

%

69

%

5.7

%

Mega Plaza Norte

87

%

79

%

10.2

%

Marina Arauco

15

%

96

%

-84.7

%

Mall Center Curico

97

%

92

%

5.5

%

Plaza El Roble (2)

72

%

77

%

-6.3

%

Paseo Arauco Estacion

77

%

78

%

-1.5

%

Arauco San Antonio (3)

79

%

64

%

22.6

%

* Mega Express Villa (3)

77

%

85

%

-9.2

%

* Larcomar Fashion Center (4)

59

%

63

%

-6.4

%

* Parque Lambramani

9

%

24

%

-61.4

%

** Parque Arboleda

121

%

76

%

59.3

%

 

 

 

 

IFRS

(Ch$)

*(Sol$)

Cumulative to

**(Col$)

March 31,

 

 

2012

 

2011

 

% Change

Monthly Revenue per m²

Parque Arauco Kennedy

263,941

251,970

4.8

%

Arauco Maipu (1)

127,895

120,826

5.9

%

* Mega Plaza Norte

925

814

13.6

%

Marina Arauco

201,495

199,768

0.9

%

Boulevard Marina Arauco

95,974

58,166

65.0

%

Mall Center Curico

102,843

100,389

2.4

%

Plaza El Roble

194,347

186,408

4.3

%

Paseo Arauco Estacion

101,407

91,091

11.3

%

Arauco San Antonio

103,535

102,968

0.6

%

* Mega Express Villa

530

541

-2.1

%

* Larcomar Fashion Center

565

539

4.8

%

** Parque Lambramani

376

416

-9.5

%

** Parque Arboleda

287,379

271,068

6.0

%

 

Monthly Rent per m²

Parque Arauco Kennedy

22,408

20,960

6.9

%

Arauco Maipu (1)

10,979

9,427

16.5

%

* Mega Plaza Norte

47

44

6.9

%

Marina Arauco

15,867

15,633

1.5

%

Boulevard Marina Arauco

14,097

9,454

49.1

%

Mall Center Curico

6,550

6,040

8.4

%

Plaza El Roble

11,832

11,317

4.5

%

Paseo Arauco Estacion

14,018

12,696

10.4

%

Arauco San Antonio

9,725

9,409

3.4

%

* Mega Express Villa

30

29

3.7

%

* Larcomar Fashion Center

55

57

-3.5

%

** Parque Lambramani

26

31

-16.9

%

** Parque Arboleda

32,442

26,310

23.3

%

 

% Occupancy

Parque Arauco Kennedy

99.7

%

99.6

%

0.2

%

Arauco Maipu (1)

96.4

%

94.0

%

2.5

%

Mega Plaza Norte

99.9

%

99.1

%

0.8

%

Marina Arauco

99.6

%

97.5

%

2.2

%

Boulevard Marina Arauco

96.2

%

91.7

%

4.9

%

Mall Center Curico

99.2

%

99.1

%

0.1

%

Plaza El Roble

98.0

%

98.7

%

-0.7

%

Paseo Arauco Estacion

98.5

%

96.5

%

2.1

%

Arauco San Antonio

98.1

%

98.0

%

0.0

%

Mega Express Villa

97.0

%

98.9

%

-1.9

%

Larcomar Fashion Center

90.0

%

96.7

%

-7.0

%

** Parque Lambramani

92.0

%

91.8

%

0.2

%

** Parque Arboleda

93.1

%

80.9

%

15.1

%

 

Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/parque-arauco-reports-first-quarter-172300247.html

Feds Say They Crack $80 Million Drug Heist From Enfield Warehouse

Two Miami men were charged Thursday with the sensational theft of $80 million in pharmaceuticals from an Eli Lilly Co. warehouse in Enfield two years ago, federal authorities said Thursday.

Amaury Villa, 37, and his brother, Amed Villa, 46, Cuban citizens living in Miami, are described by authorities as members of a sophisticated group of warehouse burglars and truck-hijackers responsible for thefts of large quantities of pharmaceutical drugs and other goods along the East Coast and in the Midwest. Federal authorities said they smashed the ring following a three-year, undercover FBI investigation.

Prior to the Enfield theft, the Villa brothers and others not identified by authorities traveled repeatedly from Miami to the Hartford area, apparently to spy on the 70,000-square-foot warehouse on Freshwater Boulevard. A Lilly security camera recorded one of the thieves peering through the front door of the warehouse three months before the theft.

On the night of March 13, 2010, and into the early hours of March 14, they are accused of cutting a hole in the warehouse roof and descending into the interior on ropes. Inside, they disabled parts of the security system and, over five hours, used a warehouse forklift to load 49 pallets stacked with boxes of pharmaceuticals into a trailer truck, federal authorities said.

The thieves leased the truck specifically for the Enfield heist, authorities said, and used the warehouse loading dock to fill it with cases of Gemzar, a chemotherapy drug for lung cancer patients; the antipsychotic Zyprexa; and Cymbalta and Prozac, used to treat depression and anxiety.

“As far as we know, this brazen crime was the biggest theft in the history of Connecticut and the largest theft of pharmaceuticals in the United States,” Connecticut U.S. Attorney David B. Fein said Thursday.

The Villa brothers are charged with theft and conspiracy in a federal indictment focused exclusively on the planning and execution of the Enfield warehouse heist. Amaury Villa and 10 others are charged in a separate Florida indictment that accuses them of selling and conspiring to sell stolen pharmaceuticals.

In yet another related case, federal authorities in Illinois said Thursday that they had charged Amed Villa with the theft in January of more than 3,500 cases of cigarettes, valued at more than $8 million, from a warehouse in Peoria.

And authorities in New Jersey have charged a dozen people associated with the same ring with conspiracy to steal and sell millions more in prescription andover-the-counter drugs.

Fein said that “virtually all” of the drugs stolen in Enfield were recovered in a warehouse in South Florida, but he would not elaborate specifically on the sale or attempted sale of pharmaceuticals stolen by the Villa brothers or others accused with them in Florida.

“The cargo theft of pharmaceuticals is on the rise, imposing a terrible cost on the industry and a danger to the public,” Fein said.

Industry experts have said that the numbers of thefts such as the Lilly job in Enfield have grown sharply as sophisticated criminals try to feed growing black market demand for high-priced prescription medications, including anti-depressants, blood thinners and insulin.

The Enfield warehouse is one of three national distribution centers that Lilly operates.

The theft there had similarities to hits on pharmaceutical warehouses a year earlier near Richmond, Va.; Memphis, Tenn.; and Olive Branch, Miss. Thieves there cut through roofs and sometimes used trapeze-style rigging to get inside and disable alarm systems. In some cases, they spray-painted security camera lenses; in others, they stole disks from the security recording devices.

Federal authorities in Florida said the group associated with the Villa brothers was responsible for the theft of truckloads of pharmaceuticals from truck stops in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Tennessee and from a GlaxoSmithKline warehouse in Virginia.

The brothers are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit theft from an interstate shipment and four counts of theft from an interstate shipment. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of five years. Each of the other charges carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

The Connecticut indictment, returned March 12 and unsealed Thursday, detailed evidence of travel between Florida and Connecticut, hotel stays in Windsor, the purchase of tools and the rental of cars and trucks in the run-up to the burglary.

Amaury Villa, sometimes accompanied by an unidentified associate, flew from Miami to LaGuardia Airport in New York or Bradley International Airport, where he rented cars. He booked rooms at least twice at the Hyatt Summerfield Suites in Windsor, including on the weekend of the theft.

On Jan. 9, 2010, Amaury Villa’s associate was recorded by a warehouse security camera. On Feb. 22, the thieves received email confirmation of the lease of two tractor-trailer trucks to a business for which Amaury Villa is a registered agent.

Federal prosecutors said that for about 10 minutes beginning at 10:22 p.m. on March 13, 2010, the night the burglary began, Lilly warehouse security cameras captured images of more of the thieves. It was after 10:30 p.m. that the thieves — using tools purchased at a Home Depot store in Queens, N.Y — cut a hole in the roof, descended inside and disabled parts of the security system, federal authorities said.

At some point during the theft, the indictment said, “Amed Villa touched a water bottle previously stored within the Enfield warehouse and left that empty bottle inside the warehouse after he departed.” Federal authorities would not say what they learned from an analysis of the bottle.

The indictment charges that the tractor-trailer left Lilly’s property at 3:40 a.m. on March 14, 2010.

Fein said Thursday that it “disappeared into the night.”

Later the same morning, Amaury Villa checked out of his hotel room in Windsor. His rental car was recorded passing through the southbound toll on the Whitestone Bridge in New York at 11:35 a.m. On March 15, according to the indictment, he flew back to Miami from LaGuardia.

The Villa brothers were arrested Thursday in Florida and are expected to be transported to Connecticut, where they will be presented at U.S. District Court.

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Article source: http://www.courant.com/news/breaking/hc-enfield-eli-lilly-drugs-0504-20120503,0,3819384.story?track=rss