GOODMAN Group, now one of the world's largest owners and developers of industrial properties, has stepped up development projects in Europe to meet tenant demand. The company has secured three new leases in three countries in Europe, for a total of 45,000 square metres of warehouse and distribution centres.
Goodman said it would begin construction of a 21,000sq m warehouse at its Munich Airport Logistics Centre for a leading European transport and logistics provider.
It started work in February on a 17,000sq m logistics centre at Ullo Airport in Hungary. The centre had been leased to a Swedish cosmetics company, it said.
Goodman's Continental Europe chief executive, Danny Peeters, said the European development program was moving forward and performing well.
Mr Peeters noted a marked increase in inquiries from companies reviewing their requirements and seeking high quality logistics and office space as conditions improved.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. .End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. Goodman chief executive Greg Goodman, who is overseas, has said Europe, where $6.5bn worth of projects are planned, will become the centre of the group's activities.
Merrill Lynch yesterday downgraded the group from "buy" to "underperform" on valuation.
In a client note, Merrill said Goodman had outperformed the benchmark index for the A-REITs by 14.7 per cent since March 1 and had reached its target price of 65 cents.
Goodman securities closed unchanged yesterday at 68c.
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GMG Price at posting:
$3.43 Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Held
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