Amsterdam,
01
August
2018
|
18:00
Europe/Amsterdam

Vastned Half-Year Report 2018

Highlights
- Like-for-like gross rental growth 0.6% on core city assets
- Occupancy rate core city assets 96.9% as at 30 June 2018
- Value increase of core city assets € 16.3 million*
- Core city assets portfolio expanded with € 11.0 million acquisition on Drieharingstraat in Utrecht
- Non-strategic properties in the Netherlands and France sold for € 63.5 million in total
- Loan-to-value ratio 37.3% as at 30 June 2018
- Takeover of Vastned Retail Belgium did not succeed: 90% acceptance threshold not achieved
- Direct result HY1 2018 € 1.18 per share
- Indirect result HY1 2018 € 0.58 per share
- Interim dividend HY1 2018 € 0.71 per share
- Estimated direct result 2018 of € 2.10 - € 2.20 per share maintained
- Estimated total dividend 2018 € 2.05 per share 
* Excluding acquisitions and divestments

Download the full press release on your right.

Taco de Groot, Vastned CEO
In the first half of 2018 we again realised good results, driven by the core city assets, which now make up 81% of our portfolio. The occupancy rate of the portfolio was 96.2% and the value of the property rose by 1.0%. The occupancy rate of the core city assets remained high (96.9%), but fell predominantly due to the recent departure of Salvatore Ferragamo in Madrid. We are currently negotiating a new lease for this property located on Calle de Serrano 36.

We have made further progress on the execution of its strategy. The quality of our portfolio has improved further with the acquisition of food & beverage assets in Utrecht city centre and we sold a number of non-strategic properties in the Netherlands and France in order to further reduce the risk profile of our portfolio.

Our takeover bid for the remaining outstanding shares in Vastned Retail sadly has not been successful. We did our utmost to let the bid succeed, but not enough shares were offered so the transaction could not go ahead. We feel that the bid price was fair, which was indeed confirmed by independent expert Degroof Petercam and by the majority of the shareholders, who did offer their shares. Vastned Retail Belgium will remain a key subsidiary of Vastned with which we will continue to collaborate constructively.

We have also worked hard to maintain our FII status. After the coalition agreement last year we entered into discussions with the ministries involved together with other interested parties in order to convince them of the importance of the FII regime for the position of Dutch property companies in Europe. On Budget Day 2018 we expect more information on the government’s plans, after which we can determine their impact on Vastned. Until that time, but also afterwards, we will do our very best to argue in favour of maintaining the FII regime.

We realised a direct result of € 1.18 per share in the first half of 2018. We are cautiously optimistic for the rest of the year and we maintain our projection for the direct result for 2018 of between € 2.10 to € 2.20 per share The retail market is still in transition and many retailers are struggling to adjust to the new reality. In addition, attractive property is expensive and scarce, so we remain cautious in making acquisitions.

We expect to be able to maintain a total dividend of € 2.05 per share in 2018. In line with our dividend policy we will distribute an interim dividend of € 0.71 per share, which is equal to 60% of the direct result for the first half year.
Taco de Groot, Vastned CEO
About Vastned

Vastned is a listed European retail property company (Euronext Amsterdam: VASTN) focusing on venues for premium shopping. Vastned invests in selected cities in Europe with a clear focus on the best retail property in the most popular shopping streets in the bigger cities. Vastned's tenants are strong and leading international and national retail brands. The property portfolio has a size of approximately € 1.6 billion as at 30 June 2018.