Industrial developer VGP reported its profits for the first six months of the year increased by 46.1 percent y-o-y to €62.5m. Net profit from the evaluation of its investment portfolio reached €59.9m. E-commerce continued to be a strong driver of demand for new leasable space. Development and leasing activities continue to perform at record levels, with lease contracts exceeding €16m, of which €14.8m were new deals. VGP acquired 185,000 sqm of new development sites and has currently 21 buildings (527,876 sqm) under construction.
During the first half of 2017, a third closing was made with VGP European Logistics (a 50/50 joint venture with Allianz Real Estate) in which the JV acquired six new parks from VGP, totaling seven logistic buildings and another four newly completed logistic buildings. The six parks as well as the additional buildings are located in Germany and the Czech Republic. VGP continued to improve its financial debt profile in H1, with the private placement of an eight-year, €80m bond at the end of March 2017. The developer also issued, at the beginning of July, a new €75m, seven-year retail bond to refinance a bond maturing the same month.
