As of June 30, 2022, 40 projects with a total floor area of 1,346,000 m2 were under construction, representing an additional €88.1 million in annual rents after the projects are completed and fully leased (87.4% pre-leased).
A total of 206,000 m2 of the area of projects started in the first half of 2022, of which 81.7% has been pre-leased, representing 11.1 million euros in rents after the projects are completed and fully leased.
For the first half of 2022, 17 projects with a total area of 334,000 m2 were delivered, of which 99.3% are leased, which represents an income of 17.1 million euros in rents.
The strong liquid position worth EUR 730 million will likely be further positively influenced by the closing of the initial portfolio of the Fourth Joint Venture and the completion of work on VGP Park Munich in the second half of 2022.
The cash position was supported by the third transaction with the Second Joint Venture with net proceeds of €215 million for the first quarter of 2022 and includes gross proceeds of €82 million from the other two transactions concluded with the joint venture as of July 1, 2022.
A minimum gross revenue of EUR 73 million is expected for the completion of work at VGP Park Munich in the fourth quarter of 2022. The closing of the initial portfolio of the Fourth Joint Venture is planned for the fourth quarter of 2022. As the company further informs, the revolving credit has been increased by 50% to 300 million euros (still not fully used). The debt ratio was 35.2% (33.5% according to pro forma²).
"Together with the renewal of existing and the signing of new leases worth 35 million euros, we recorded strong growth in the first half of the year, which caused a significant increase in rents in most countries. This growth has occurred despite the more cautious approach of the e-commerce sector, in which many major players are waiting to lease until 2024 and beyond," says Jan Van Geet, CEO of VGP, and continues: "The volatile energy markets have not only significantly increased our revenue potential from renewable energy sources, but also increased the interest of our tenants to switch to energy consumption from renewable sources. In addition to established strongholds in Germany and the Netherlands, we are now launching solar projects in almost all regions based on direct tenant demand.”
“While we have been more cautious with land acquisitions in the first half of the year, an important side effect of volatile energy markets is that they create tremendous growth opportunities for us. After all, it accelerates the need for energy-inefficient industries to restructure and move to more sustainable and energy-efficient facilities and operations. One of the other consequences is that they put their old factories, mostly in lucrative locations, up for sale, which presents interesting opportunities for VGP to redevelop these brownfields," adds Jan Van Geet.
According to him, a strong capital position is especially important now that such attractive opportunities in the field of brownfields are appearing more and more often. Significant recycling of financial resources through closed and anticipated transactions with joint ventures strengthens the firm's balance sheet and supports its flexibility to provide the best possible service to customers. At the same time, it also creates significant value for all parties involved.
