Regulated Information – Inside Information
9 November 2023, 7:00 am, Antwerp, Belgium: VGP NV (‘VGP’ or ‘the Group’) today published its trading update for the first ten months of 2023, reporting solid growth, enhanced liquidity and exciting new development prospects.
- €54.3 million of new and renewed leases signed year-to-date (of which € 18.1 million during the past 4 months) bringing the annualised committed leases for the year to date to €341.2 million[1] (+ € 38 million compared to 31 December 2022, which is +13% YTD and +17% y-o-y). Recently we have benefited from a strong rise in demand in our portfolio.
- 24 projects under construction representing 790,000 m² (of which 16 projects totalling 402,000 m² started up during the year) and €55.5 million in additional annual rent once fully built and let. The pipeline under construction is 87.14% pre-let. Currently VGP expects to start up construction of up to 251,000 m2 before year-end. Construction prices remain in decline.
- 18 projects delivered during the year representing 426,000 m², or € 22.3 million in additional annual rent (of which 5 projects totalling 109,000 m² delivered during the 2H 2023), currently 99% let and a further 292,000 m² estimated for delivery in the remainder of 2023, currently 96,5% let.
- 1,240,000 m² of new development land acquired during the year (of which 539,000 m² during 2H 2023) and 875,000 m² of development land deployed to support the new developments started up during the year. Total secured development land bank stands at 9 million m² at the end of October 2023 representing a development potential of over 4.2 million m². As anticipated previously, VGP has been able to secure a number of iconic sites, amongst others the former R&D site of Stellantis at Vélizy-Villacoublay (14 km from Paris Eiffel tower, with direct ring road access) which has already been acquired.
- Property portfolio[2] virtually fully let with occupancy at 99% as of 31 October 2023 (compared to 99 % as at 30 June 2023). Of the € 341.2 million committed annualized rental income, € 296.6 has become cash generative, an increase of 24% versus December 2022. Another € 33.1 million of rental income is expected to start within the next twelve months.
- Solid liquidity position as evidenced by:
- Cash distribution relating to VGP Park München joint venture with Allianz Real Estate received in Q3 in amount of € 50 million. Additional profit distribution from the First, Second and Third Joint Venture expected in Q4 in amount of € 30-40 million;
- Successful first closing of Deka resulting in gross proceeds of € 461 million;
- Workstreams well advanced to broaden the Joint Venture model substantially further with existing and new partners;
- Repaid bond of € 225 million at maturity in September ’23;
- Reiteration of VGP’s investment grade rating by Fitch with stable outlook.
- Photovoltaic capacity grew exponentially to 173MWp operational or under construction and with a further 95MWp being planned. Once built, the renewable energy production will exceed our annual tenant electricity consumption. This contributed to the four-star GRESB developer rating, the second highest among peers in the European logistics segment
[1] Including Joint Ventures at 100%. As at 31 October 2023 the annualized committed leases of the Joint Ventures stood at €225.9 million.
[2] Including Joint Ventures at 100%.