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IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones reported a sharply higher net result for the first nine months of fiscal 2026, supported by stronger performance across its rental businesses and positive accounting impacts related to inflation and currency movements in Argentina, executives said on the company’s third-quarter results call.
Chief Financial Officer Matías Gaivironsky said IRSA posted a gain of ARS 239.7 billion for the nine-month period, compared with ARS 46.5 billion a year earlier. He added that adjusted EBITDA improved across the company’s three primary rental segments: shopping centers, offices and hotels.
Investor Relations Officer Santiago Donato said IRSA’s shopping mall gross leasable area rose to 373,000 square meters, mainly due to a small expansion at Alto Avellaneda. Occupancy remained close to 98%.
Donato said tenant sales declined 10% in real terms in the latest quarter, citing weaker consumption and pressure on prices amid “retail reconfiguration” tied to Argentina’s economic opening and the entry of international brands. He said, however, customer traffic and volumes remained strong.
Despite the decline in tenant sales, shopping mall revenue increased about 2.5% and adjusted EBITDA rose 2.2%. Donato said fixed revenue components—including base rent, key money, advertising and parking—now account for nearly 87% of mall revenue, helping cushion the segment during slower consumption periods.
During the Q&A, management said April trends were similar to the first calendar quarter, with continued declines in consumption. Gaivironsky said the weakness appeared more related to pricing than traffic or transaction levels, noting that clothing prices had risen faster than Argentina’s broader inflation index in prior years but have recently been pressured by imports and new brands.
Donato said IRSA is seeing increased interest from international retailers seeking to enter or expand in Argentina through the company’s mall portfolio. He cited brands including Dolce & Gabbana, Decathlon and Victoria’s Secret, which is already present at Alto Palermo and Abasto and is planning further expansion.
IRSA is also in discussions with other major foreign retailers, Donato said. He described the trend as positive because it diversifies the tenant mix and strengthens the retail offering in IRSA’s shopping centers.
Donato said IRSA’s office portfolio totals about 58,000 square meters and is fully occupied. He said the company’s premium office portfolio is generating rent of about $26 per square meter, and management noted that demand for high-quality offices is increasing as office work gradually returns.
Chief Investment Officer Jorge Cruces discussed the company’s expansion of the Zetta office building within the Polo DOT mixed-use development in Buenos Aires. The existing Zetta property totals about 32,000 square meters of gross leasable area and is mostly occupied by Mercado Libre. In December, IRSA signed an amendment with Mercado Libre to expand its leased space.
After completion, the building is expected to exceed 47,500 square meters of gross leasable area, with Mercado Libre occupying about 72%. Cruces said initial works, site preparation and earthworks have begun, and IRSA is tendering the concrete structure.
Cruces also outlined the broader Polo DOT master plan, which includes DOT Baires Shopping, office buildings, residential space, entertainment, dining and retail. Future phases include the Giga office building (close to 16,000 square meters of gross leasable area) and the EXA residential building (19,000 sellable square meters). He said the Philips Building redevelopment is also expected to complete the master development.
Asked whether the Zetta expansion is a one-off tied to Mercado Libre or a sign of broader opportunity in offices, Cruces said both factors are relevant. He said occupancy is improving and there are few new office developments, but added that IRSA must be selective about locations and projects.
Donato said IRSA’s hotel segment is performing well after a challenging period partly linked to the appreciation of the peso against the dollar. He said Buenos Aires hotels benefited from tourism and corporate events, with occupancy reaching about 74%.
At the Llao Llao Resort in Bariloche, occupancy has been affected over the past two and a half years by renovation work in one section of the hotel. Donato said that excluding rooms under construction, the hotel shows a positive and stable occupancy trend.
Cruces said Ramblas del Plata remains IRSA’s most significant development project. The riverfront master plan includes an open metropolitan park, 36,000 square meters of retail space, a 2-kilometer pedestrian promenade and a 7-hectare central bay.
IRSA recently signed swaps for plots M1 and K3 totaling $11.3 million. Cruces said the company has sold two lots and swapped 15 others, with the combined value of those transactions totaling $105 million. He said IRSA expects to receive almost 25,000 sellable square meters from swap agreements already executed.
Overall construction progress at Ramblas is about 23%, while phase one is 52% complete. Cruces said sheet piling around the central bay has been completed, tree buffer planting and bay remediation are in the maintenance phase, and work has begun on water, sewer and electrical duct networks. He added that paving work started during the week of the call.
Gaivironsky said Argentina’s inflation and currency movements created volatility in reported results. During the nine-month period, the peso appreciated in real terms, with nominal devaluation of 15% versus inflation of 25%. He said this affected dollar-denominated asset valuations and the peso re-expression of debt.
Rental adjusted EBITDA reached $151 million for the nine-month period. Gaivironsky said IRSA may finish the fiscal year with record-high rental EBITDA in dollar terms. Net debt to rental EBITDA stood at 1.4 times, with loan-to-value at 11.3%. He said net debt may rise as IRSA funds new developments and capital expenditures, but characterized leverage as conservative.
In the Q&A, management said IRSA is analyzing opportunities in logistics but does not expect to enter the data center business in the near future. Gaivironsky also declined to predict whether the company would launch a share repurchase program, saying IRSA would communicate any decision if one is made and noting that audited accumulated results would be needed after the fiscal year ends.
Management also said the refurbishment of the Haedo shopping center remains on schedule, with a potential opening around the end of the year or beginning of the following year.
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