Operating Performance
The company signed 205,059 square metres of new leases and 385,501 square metres of lease renewals. For the full-year 2018, total leasing activity comprised 3.06 million square metres, an expected decrease.
Notable new leases in the fourth quarter included:
- 20,150 square metres for Maurice Ward Group at Prologis Park Pilsen II, the Czech Republic
- 25,707 square metres for ID Logistics at Prologis Park Clesud, France
- 21,869 square metres for Transport International Transmec at Isle D’Abeau, France
- 15,986 square metres for Picnic at Prologis Park Eemhaven, the Netherlands
- 10,339 square metres for an automotive giant at Prologis Park Munich Neufahrn, Germany
“Our portfolio has never been in better shape,” said Ben Bannatyne, president, Prologis Europe. “Demand is healthy, and we finalized our multi-year disposition program ahead of schedule, redeploying those proceeds into development. Now, our focus is on capitalizing on rent growth and the tremendous benefits that come from our scale, including an intense focus on customer service that centers on solving our customers’ pain points and elevates our relationships with them.”
Capital Deployment
In the fourth quarter, the company started 12 new developments in the Czech Republic, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia and the United Kingdom totalling 287,783 square metres; 31.1 percent was build-to-suit and 68.9 percent was speculative.
For full-year 2018, Prologis started 15 build-to-suit and 22 speculative projects with a combined total of 918,076 square metres, of which 47.6 percent is pre-leased. Development starts in the fourth quarter included:
- 49,700 square metre speculative build at Prologis Park Dirft III, United Kingdom
- 39,400 square metre speculative build at Prologis Park Brno, the Czech Republic
- 30,176 square metre BTS expansion at Prologis Park Tilburg, the Netherlands
- 22,084 square metre speculative build at Prologis Park Siziano, Italy
“Supply in the fourth quarter was healthy and in line with the strength of immediate demand which, together with continued low vacancy rates, allowed for a disciplined increase in speculative building,” adds Ben Bannatyne. “Market conditions remain very good as demand is diverse and broad-based, while supply remains disciplined. Our strongest markets include the Germany, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Hungary, and Sweden in order of net operating income.”
Additional Activity
Prologis acquired six buildings in the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK in the quarter with a total of 105,367 square metres and six land plots in the Czech Republic, France, Italy and the Netherlands with a net rentable area of 218,323 square metres. Full-year 2018 building acquisitions totalled 157,663 square metres and land of 1,7 million square metres.
Dispositions comprised 57 buildings totalling 1,06 million square metres in Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. The company also sold nine land parcels in France, Italy, Hungary and Poland with a net rentable area of 780,698 square metres. Full-year 2018 building dispositions totalled 1,75 million square metres and land sales comprised of 1,38 million square metres.
At quarter-end, the company owned or had investments in, on a wholly-owned basis or through co-investment ventures, properties and development projects totalling 16.3 million square metres in Europe.
Prologis
