High occupancy rate of core city assets confirms strategic success
Highlights
- Vastned realised 4.7% rent increase on leases concluded for core city assets in Q1 2018
- Occupancy rate core city assets slightly up to 99.7% as at 31 March 2018
- Acquisition of Vredenburg 1 in Utrecht completed for € 4.1 million
- Non-strategic properties in the Netherlands and France sold for € 55.0 in total
- Vastned issues formal takeover bid of € 57.50 per share on the free float of Vastned Retail Belgium
- Forecast for direct result 2018 of € 2.10 - € 2.20 per share confirmed
Amsterdam, 8 May 2018 – Vastned, the listed European retail property company focusing on ‘venues for premium shopping’, has published its Q1 2018 trading update.
Taco de Groot, Vastned CEO: ‘2018 has started well for us. The portfolio is showing good and stable results and we are cautiously
optimistic for the rest of the year, in spite of the continuing challenging situation in the retail market and the limited supply of
attractive acquisition options. We concluded 22 leases for € 5.4 million in total in the first quarter. We realised an average 4.7% rent
increase on new leases for core city assets, but rents for our mixed retail locations remained under pressure, and decreased by on average
11.1%.
We expanded our core city assets portfolio by making acquisitions in the historic city centre of Utrecht, and we lowered the risk profile
of the portfolio by selling non-strategic properties in the Netherlands and France. We will continue executing our strategy step by step
and we confirm are previously announced forecast for the 2018 direct result of between € 2.10 and € 2.20 per share.’

Review of the property portfolio
Occupancy rate
The occupancy rate of the total portfolio decreased from 98.1% at year-end 2017 to 97.9% as at 31 March 2018. The core city assets realised a limited increase of the occupancy rate, from 99.6% at year-end 2017 to 99,7% as at 31 March 2018, while the occupancy rate of the mixed retail locations fell from 95.1% at year-end 2017 to 93.9% as at 31 March 2018. The divestments of shopping centre Walburg in Zwijndrecht and Rue Saint-Jean 44-45 in Nancy had a positive impact on the occupancy rate, but this was cancelled out by the departure of tenants in mixed retail locations in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Occupancy rate Core city assets Mixed retail locations Total
in % 31 March 2018 Year-end 2017 31 March 2018 Year-end 2017 31 March 2018 Year-end 2017
Netherlands 99.6 99.6 91.8 93.7 96.7 97.1
France 99.8 99.3 80.1 83.7 98.7 98.4
Belgium 99.9 99.9 97.5 98.4 98.8 99.1
Spain 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Total 99.7 99.6 93.9 95.1 97.9 98.1

Leasing activity
In the past quarter, Vastned concluded 22 leases for € 5.4 million in total, or 7.1% of the total theoretical gross rental
income as at 31 March 2018, compared to 27 leases for € 2.3 million (2.8% of the theoretical annual rent) in Q1 2017.
Of the 22 leases concluded in Q1 2018, eleven were for core city assets.

In Amsterdam Vastned concluded leases with tenants including Claudia Sträter for Kalverstraat 162-164, BA&SH at P.C. Hooftstraat 35 and Eyewish at Ferdinand Bolstraat 126. In addition, a lease was concluded with Japanese retailer UNIQLO for its first shop in the Netherlands at Kalverstraat 11/Rokin 12 in Amsterdam.
Vastned realised an average rent increase of 4.7% (approx. € 0.2 million) on leases concluded for core city assets. On leases concluded for mixed retail locations the rental income fell by 11.1% (approx. € 0.1 million). Demand for retail space in the smaller cities in the Netherlands remained limited, resulting in lower rents for mixed retail leases in Ridderkerk, Goor and Renkum.
Q1 2018 Leasing activity Rent change
in numbers of leases € million % of theoretical annual rent
in % € million
Core city assets 11 4.8 6.3 4.7 0.2
Mixed retail locations 11 0.6 0.8 (11.1) (0.1)
Total 22 5.4 7.1 2.8 0.1

Occupancy rate Core city assets Mixed retail locations Total
in % 31 March 2018 Year-end 2017 31 March 2018 Year-end 2017 31 March 2018 Year-end 2017
Netherlands 99.6 99.6 91.8 93.7 96.7 97.1
France 99.8 99.3 80.1 83.7 98.7 98.4
Belgium 99.9 99.9 97.5 98.4 98.8 99.1
Spain 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Total 99.7 99.6 93.9 95.1 97.9 98.1

see and read more on
https://vastned.com/Upload/Vastned-Q1-2018-Trading-Update_ENG.pdf