Following its letter of intent of March 23, 2004, VastNed Retail has signed the final agreement concerning the sale of its German property portfolio. The sale has been concluded at the value which has been taken into account in the 2004 semi-annual results.
This book value includes a five-year guarantee of € 3.2 million per year for the vacancy as per July 1, 2004. This guarantee concerns non-receipt of rent due to vacancy and the related costs of non-offsettable service changes. The provision for this guarantee amounts to € 10.7 million.
The sale has retroactive effect until July 1, 2004. In the period prior to transfer the buyer will pay interest charges of 4% for the first four weeks and 5% for the remaining period.
With the means released thus VastNed Retail intends to concentrate on its core countries: The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Spain. The full reinvestment of the means released is not expected to be realised until 2005, and the reinvestments are not expected to contribute positively to the direct investment result until 2005. The means released will therefore initially be utilised for strengthening solvency. The board of management maintains its prognosis for the 2004 financial year of a direct investment result of approximately € 3.74 per share.
Source: VastNed
