Vinte 2020

active

Founded in 2001, Vinte Viviendas Integrales, S.A.B. de C.V. (“Vinte” or the “Company”) is a listed homebuilder focused on low-to middle-income housing in Mexico. Vinte’s operations include land acquisition, urbanization, design and development planning, construction, and sale of homes. Vinte differentiates from other housing developers by offering functional and attractively designed homes, community infrastructure not easily available in this segment, and good location within or very close to urban centers. It has built more than 43,000 homes under an innovative housing model of living in communities. Vinte is one of few developers in Mexico that was able to grow even during economic downturns such as the 2008-2009 global crisis and the 2012-2013 Mexican housing crisis.Vinte is a holding company that consolidates six operating subsidiaries: (i) Promotora de Viviendas Integrales, S.A. de C.V. engaged in land purchase, development and commercialization; (ii) Urbanizaciones Inmobiliarias del Centro, S.A. de C.V. focused on architectonic and urban design, as well as on land purchase, development and commercialization; (iii) Edificaciones e Ingenieria del Centro, S.A. de C.V. engaged in urbanization and construction activities; (iv) Conectividad para el Habitat, S.A. de C.V. engaged in engaged in the distribution of computers, internet, and related services; (v) Vinte Administracion, Diseño y Consultoria, S.A. de C.V. focused on home sales; and (vi) Comercializadora de Equipamientos y Mobiliarios para la Vivienda, S.A. de C.V. engaged in the sale of home equipment such as floors, closets, furniture and solar panels.The purpose of the project is to alleviate Vinte’s cash needs for 2020-2021 to cope with expected home sales decline due to the COVID-19 crisis and enable Vinte to continue with the construction once the stay-at-home order is lifted (the “Project”).  This Project will address a long-standing housing shortage in Mexico by providing good quality affordable housing in rapidly urbanizing areas of the country.ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT UNDER THE COVID-19 RESPONSE FACILITY:IFC has committed MXN 300 million to Vinte on June 29, 2021. The investment is in the form of a revolving A-loan to be funded and disbursed in Mexican Pesos for the purposes of supporting the Company to alleviate its long-term liquidity access for the next months should the economic recovery take longer than expected and to resume investments in new developments to capitalize on potential market opportunities. This follow-on investment will continue to address a long-standing housing gap in Mexico by providing good quality affordable housing. UPDATE RELATED TO ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT UNDER COVID-19 RESPONSE FACILITY:E&S Performance and COVID-19 related Impacts:- The company’s E&S performance was satisfactory at appraisal and was determined to be satisfactory following the last site supervision visit (SSV) in April 2019. This performance is aligned with good international industry practices (GIIP) and is materially compliant with the applicable at-approval requirements under the current active investment. This follow-on investment, under the COVID-19 response facility, does not result in any new material E&S risks. The company’s management of existing E&S risks and impacts as defined in the Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS) as disclosed for the existing investment on 07/14/2020 continues.- Vinte has made progress in completing several corrective actions as defined in the Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP) in 2020, and completion is of all associated actions is expected by December 2021. Vinte has enhanced management of environmental programs by standardizing the approach across all developments and has strengthened and standardized its emergency response plan for developments. Since March of 2020,  Vinte did not reduce its construction workforce as an investment to be able to return to operations as soon as the construction activity was declared essential, which happened in June 2020. The virtual appraisal completed by IFC did not identify any new material E&S risks and impacts due to COVID-19 that cannot mitigated under existing ESRS and ESAP.Scope of IFC’s Appraisal: - IFC’s E&S virtual appraisal included a review of latest information provided by Vinte associated with environmental health and safety (EHS) and human resource (HR) management practices including OHS based on a detailed E&S questionnaire as well as virtual meetings and interviews. Document review included, among others: updated EHS management programs and procedures, COVID-19 response plan and related information as provided in response to a questionnaire.  The review also considered Vinte’s E&S performance since the previous virtual appraisal undertaken in July 2020. After COVID-19 related travel restrictions are lifted, IFC will visit the client, as part of the regular portfolio monitoring activities.Response to COVID-19 Pandemic:- Vinte undertook a risk assessment exercise of its operations to identify and implement measures to reduce risks associated with COVID-19, while also ensuring compliance with local requirements related to the pandemic. \ The company has focused its efforts on information campaigns and trainings to ensure employees are aware of the risks and measures to prevent infections aimed for both office and construction staff alike. There has been no retrenchments and the company does not expect such in the near future. Administrative staff have the option to work remotely and the company has developed new protocols and procedures to minimize risks of exposure to workers, such as: daily cleaning and disinfection, facility access protocols, wearing of personal protective equipment and social distancing.  Management communicates on a regular basis with all its employees via the available internal channels (i.e. intranet, e-mail) and external channels. Vinte’s existing HR/OHS policies and measures as well as the COVID-19 specific measures ensure ongoing compliance with IFC. PS2: Labor and Working Conditions and PS4: Community Health Safety and Security. As a condition of this follow-on investment, Vinte will ensure ongoing compliance with IFC Performance Standards – especially provisions under PS2 and PS4.