At Helbor the owners eye still fattens the cash, a lot
Valor Econômico
In the heart of the commercial center of Mogi das Cruzes, an entire block is taken by the city's best-known land developer. Helbor may fool the eyes of those who don't know it. On the outside, it features a modern commercial facade, with dark glasses and a metal structure. A few steps into the building, however, and the four houses of the Borenstein family - today the headquarters of the company - are quickly revealed. The meeting room, decorated with brown carpet and light beige wallpaper, was the room where Henrique Borenstein, 75 years - Chairman of the Board - slept for years with his wife. Henry, President of the company and son of Henrique, was born in one of the houses and he played in the yard.
The strong provincial air clashes with their numbers. Helbor went public in October 2007. In 2008, it sold R$ 445.9 million (US$ 243.7 million) and had profits of R$ 48 million (US$ 26.2 million). Last year, it amassed sales of R$ 1.4 billion (US$ 795.5 million) and profited R$ 182 million (US$ 103.4 million), with a margin of 18% in 2010. In the past 12 months, it features the second largest high of the sector, with and accumulated gain of 77.78%, only behind Eztec. With a policy of progressive payment of dividends, the company has the highest return on equity (ROE) of the sector, 43.2% for a sector average of 18.8% in 2010.
The name Helbor results from initials of the name and surname of the father, Helio Borenstein - about whom Henry is able to spend hours talking. He proudly say Hélio arrived from Ukraine in 1917 without a penny in his pocket. He made a fortune, starting with a clothing store, furniture and housewares and then with GM dealerships - and, always, many buildings. He died in 1964, before the foundation of Helbor. The son continued investing in real estate and multiplied the assets of the family. The real estate company of the family was born in 1977 to manage the rental payments of the properties acquired throughout decades and it was turned into a land developer 15 years ago.
From the buildings in Mogi, they moved on to the city of São Paulo and Santos with medium and high standard undertakings. They chose the model of partnerships - which came into question after that big companies, like Cyrela, had problems. To assure a greater commitment on the part of the partners, mostly home builders, the company turns them into minority shareholders in the development. In 2010, the volume of sales of the developer alone went from R$ 1.1 billion (US$ 558.4 million) to R$ 1.7 billion (US$ 965.9 million) adding the partners.
The company is pride of featuring a lean structure and, above all, not expensive. The Spartan management reflects on the last statement. The net margin went from 14% to an average of 18%. While other developers have their entire teams at noble addresses in São Paulo or Rio, Helbor, headquartered in Mogi, manages to have the lower administrative expenditure/income ratio in the sector: 3.4% compared to an average of 6.5% in 2010. As regards the commercial expenses, they represent 6.9% compared to an average of 6.3%. 140 employees from a total of 210 work at the headquarters in Mogi.