How we manage our portfolio companies

Our Beverages combines three business lines: a wine business, a beer business and a distribution business. We produce and sell wine locally and export to 17 countries, while in our beer we have a 10-year exclusive license to produce Heineken brands in Georgia and sell them in the South Caucasus.

Investment rationale

• Georgia is considered the “cradle of wine” with a rich, 8,000-year history of wine-making and home to over 500 unique grape varieties
• Georgia’s favorable trade regimes (free trade agreements with EU and China) provide potential for export growth for beverages 
• Growing urbanization and tourism inflows are raising demand for bottled wine locally
• Approximately 29% of the tourism inflows is spent on food & beverages
• Beer consumption per capita at one of the lowest levels in the wider region at 27.5 liters per capita
• 50% CAGR growth in soft drinks export over the last 3 years

• Best-in-class distribution network platform
• Grow vineyard base to 1,000 hectares, from current 451 hectares  
• 10-year exclusivity from Heineken to produce and sell beer in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan

Our hospitality & commercial real estate business renamed as Amber Group is comprised of: (a) rent-earning commercial assets with targeted 10% yield and (b) hotel development business across Georgia with targeted 1,000 rooms.

The hotel development business has already confirmed 1,222 rooms, of which, 152 are operational and 1,070 are in pipeline.

Investment rationale

• Record number of tourists visiting Georgia every year: 4.8 million visitors in 2018, up 16.9%     y-o-y, (2.1 million in 1H19, up 10% y-o-y), 10.5% CAGR over the last 5 years
• Tourism inflows up 19.1% y-o-y from US$ 2.7bln in 2017 to US$ 3.2bln in 2018, 13.4% CAGR over the last 5 years

Value creation potential

• Grow Portfolio of rent-earning assets through residential developments/opportunistic acquisitions
• Reach more than 1,000 operational hotel rooms. Currently approximately 1,222 rooms are confirmed, of which 152 are operational and c. 1,070 are in the pipeline
• Targeting mostly 3-star and 4-star hotels

Our renewable energy business is a platform for developing hydro and wind power plants across Georgia.

Georgia Capital owns 65% in the energy business, with the remaining 35% owned by the Austrian company RP Global – an independent power producer with 30 years of experience of developing, building, owning and operating renewable power plants globally.

Investment rationale

• Underdeveloped energy market with potential for significant growth - Low per capita power usage
• Cheap to develop – up to US$1.5mln for 1MW hydro and up to US$1.4mln for wind development

Value creation potential

• Opportunity to establish a renewable energy platform with 380MW operating capacity over the medium-term
• Energy consumption has grown at 5.7% CAGR in last 10 years and is expected to further grow at least by CAGR 5% over the next 10-15 years
• Stabile dividend provider capacity in the medium-term 

Our property and casualty Insurance (P&C Insurance) business is a leading player in the local P&C insurance market with a 29% market share based on gross premiums. P&C Insurance offers a wide range of insurance products to Georgian corporates and retail through five business lines: motor, property, credit life, liability and other insurance services.

Investment rationale

• Significantly underpenetrated insurance market in Georgia
• Market leader with a powerful distribution network of point of sale and sales agents

 Value creation potential

• Compulsory border TPL effective from 1 March 2018
• Local TPL expected to kick in and provide access untapped retail CASCO insurance market with only 4% existing penetration
• First mover advantage on underpenetrated SME segment
• Growing dividend payout capacity
• Digitalization

Our housing development business is a leading real estate developer on the US$ 1.6 billionGeorgian real estate market with three business lines: (a) a residential development arm targeting mainly mass market customers by offering affordable, high quality and comfortable housing; (b) a construction arm, engaging in construction contracts for other businesses as well as third-parties; and (c) franchise platform for development of third-party land plots with fee sharing arrangements.  
 

Investment rationale

• Shortage of housing from Soviet era combined with Georgian tradition of multi generations living under one roof, average household size is significantly higher at 3.5 compared to Eastern or Western Europe
• Most of the housing stock dates back to Soviet era and is amortised
• In line with the economic growth, urbanization level is expected to increase from current low level

Value creation potential

    Asset light strategy

• Unlock land value by developing housing projects
• Development of third-party land – franchise m2 brand name. Undisputed market leading platform of 2,500 apartments1 to be delivered in 4-5 years
• Earn Construction management fees from third-party projects and bring construction works in-house

Our Water Utility is a natural monopoly in Tbilisi and the surrounding area, where it provides water and wastewater services to 1.4 million residents representing more than one-third of Georgia’s population and c. 34,000 legal entities. Water Utility also operates hydro power plants with total installed capacity of 152 MW.

Investment rationale

• Natural monopoly in Tbilisi and surrounding districts with high entry barriers
• Sectoral output increasing at a robust growth rate (on average 9.5% in the last 10 years)
• Stable regulatory environment with fair return on investment
• Stable cash collection rates

Value creation potential

• EU harmonization reforms in progress in utilities sector, expected to drive water tariffs up
• High GDP growth combined with rapid tourism growth drive high demand from corporates
• Energy market deregulation positively affecting electricity sales price
• Upside opportunity from efficiency gains
• Stable dividend distribution capacity