A transformative year and a significantly stronger platform provides foundation for a good 2021

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26 February 2021, 7:00am, Antwerp (Berchem), Belgium: VGP NV (‘VGP’ or ‘the Group’), a European provider of high-quality logistics and semi-industrial real estate, today announces the results for the financial year ended 31 December 2020: 

  • Record net profit of €370.9 million, an 80.4% YoY increase
  • Strong business growth across the portfolio
    • Signed and renewed rental income of €45.2 million, bringing total signed rental income to € 185.2 million, a 19.5% YoY increase
    • A record 33 buildings with 869,000 m² under construction at year-end
    • Land bank expanded to 7.65 million m² – a 23.2% YoY increase
    • A record 27 projects delivered with 531,000 m² of lettable area, representing €29.1 million of annualised committed leases (entire completed portfolio is 98.5% let)
  • Limited impact Covid-19: nearly all due payments received on time and very limited reprofiling
  • Launched third joint venture for VGP Park München and completed four successful joint venture closings for a total value of €666 million resulting in €405.6 million net cash proceeds
    • First joint venture expanded to a €2 billion net asset value target and discussions with regards to a further expansion through a new joint venture are underway
  • Year-end gearing ratio reduced to 25.2%, supported by two successful share placements
  • Intention to propose to the Annual Meeting of Shareholders a distribution of a gross dividend of
    € 75 million which equates to € 3.65 per share – a 24.2% YoY increase

VGP’s Chief Executive Officer, Jan Van Geet, said: “The past year was transformative for VGP in many ways.  Despite unforeseen challenges, we created an equity base growth from €700 million last year to €1.3 billion today as we outpaced many trends and significantly increased the number of mostly pre-let projects under construction driven by strong lease growth and enabled through cash recycling with four joint venture closings and two successful share placements. Looking ahead at 2021, we are seeing the same strong operating trends continue, leaving us convinced that this can also be a good year.”

Jan Van Geet continued: “We have kicked off several iconic projects in the past year including our new parks in Laatzen (Hanover) and Bratislava.  Furthermore, we have several milestone projects in the pipeline including VGP Park Moerdijk – the largest development project in The Netherlands – and more and more brownfield projects including in Giessen where we acquired a 32-hectare former US military airfield and in Wiesloch, Heidelberg, where 13 hectares will be redeveloped at the historic site of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG.”

Jan Van Geet concluded: “We have strengthened our teams across the board, including Last Mile logistics and renewable energy expertise, which will enhance our product offerings and deepen our engagement with our clients. We have also continued to invest in our communities – for example, through our contribution to the first 16 projects identified by the VGP Foundation. I want to end by thanking our colleagues and partners, who quickly adapted to the pandemic and safely helped our existing tenants, the communities in which we operate and by ensuring construction projects were delivered to our clients on time.”