Our portfolio showed good results in the first nine months of 2018, in line with our expectations. The share of core city assets in the portfolio was 81% and the occupancy rate of the total portfolio remained high at 96.3% at the end of September. The retail market is in transition and will remain so for the near future, so that retailers are cautious about opening new shops. In this, the characteristics and locations of retail properties are highly important.

The quality of our portfolio has improved further with the sale of various non-strategic properties in France and the Netherlands. Furthermore, food & beverage assets in centre of Utrecht were added to our core city assets portfolio.

On Budget Day, the Dutch government announced its tax plans. Some time after, due to increasing resistance from the opposition the government decided to cancel the intended abolition of the dividend tax and the associated abolition of the FII regime. This is good news for Vastned because it means that the tax regime in the Netherlands will remain unchanged. Even so, Vastned will continue to advocate conversion into a REIT regime for property funds.

On 19 October 2018, we started a share buyback programme of a maximum of € 40 million. Investment opportunities for core city assets to which Vastned can add value are currently limited and yields are at a historic low. We believe that a share buyback is currently the best alternative to generate returns for our shareholders.

Over the remaining months of this year we will continue step by step to implement our strategy and we anticipate a direct result for 2018 at the top of the range announced earlier, i.e. between € 2.15 and € 2.20 per share.