News Article bond CEE CTP development financing industrial investment logistics report
by Property Forum | Industrial

CTP has announced a 15% annual growth which helped the company reach €344 million of annualised rental income by the end of 2020. With a portfolio of 6.3 million sqm and 740,000 sqm under construction at year-end 2020, CTP solidified its position as the largest logistics property owner and developer based on GLA in the Czech Republic, Romania and Serbia while announcing new developments in Austria, Poland and Bulgaria.


“From a business perspective, one of the best years in CTP‘s history,” comments Remon Vos, CEO of CTP. “Despite the global pandemic, we have grown our business significantly. With 2020 in the books, CTP now has 22 years of uninterrupted, profitable organic growth. Our portfolio is set to markedly exceed 7 million sqm by the end of 2021 and CTP is well on track to reach 10 million sqm of total lettable area by the end of 2023.”

Remon Vos

Remon Vos

CEO
CTP

Born in the Netherlands in 1970, Remon Vos founded CTP in 1998 with the goal to develop A-class industrial properties in the Czech Republic. Remon developed and grew the CTPark Network to become the largest integrated system of full-service business parks in CEE. At over 5 million sqm of lettable area, and sufficient land to grow to 8 million m2, the CTPark Network offers 5 unique property types that can accommodate wide variety businesses from 450 sqm incubators to 50,000 sqm built-to-suit manufacturing facilities or 100,000 sqm distribution centres. CTP is a long-term investor and partner to its clients, with an innovative and entrepreneurial approach. This focus has resulted in 70% of all new business coming from existing clients. CTP has also developed unique, high-quality office and housing projects, such as the award-winning Spielberk, and the unique student housing concept Domeq in Brno. Remon continues to lead the company at full-speed, with big plans for the future. 

 More »

Strong results of CTP in 2020 were driven by several factors, including the continued strong growth of e-commerce, which saw further growth as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and drove up the demand for the logistics space in the region. With a substantial landbank across several CEE countries, with a total development potential of approximately 5.4 million sqm of gross lettable area (based on a c.43% buildable ratio), CTP is ready to meet the future demand of its tenants. Over 65% of CTP’s landbank is adjacent to existing parks providing lower risk, profitable development opportunities for CTP in the years to come. Importantly, and congruent with CTP‘s long-term strategy, 82% of the landbank is around the CEE capitals or major cities.

As of year-end 2020, 740,000 sqm of developments was under construction to be finished during 2021. Of this, 63% was already pre-let to existing and new clients. Also, a total of €235 million will be spent on capital expenditure to complete these developments during 2021. CTP’s available funding per year-end 2020 consists of a mix of committed bank facilities plus a large cash position and is well in excess of the amount needed to complete these developments.

“Over 80% of our new business is concluded with the existing base of over 700 tenants. We now enjoy a WAULT of 6.0 years on our contracted leases. We constantly grow our landbank to make sure we are ready to satisfy the need of our clients to expand, whether within the CTPark location where they currently lease or in new regions,“ explains Richard Wilkinson, CFO and deputy CEO of CTP. "Wherever clients expand, they benefit from our network’s scale allowing them to grow their business in the locations that best suit their needs, knowing they have a long-term partner for expansion in CTP“.

Richard Wilkinson

Richard Wilkinson

Group CFO
CTP

Richard started his role as Group CFO for CTP in July 2018, which includes looking after the refinancing of CTP's portfolio of over 4,5 million sqm of premium industrial property. Prior to joining CTP, Richard ran the CRE business of Erste Group across CEE for 14 years, turning it into one of the leading CRE banking franchises. He has a Law degree from the London School of Economics. More »

In 2020, CTP has grown its market share in the five key markets of Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romanian and Serbia, cementing its leadership position as the largest property developer and owner of logistics‘ assets in the CEE region in terms of GLA.

CTP has recently announced two strategic deals:

  • One transaction is a strategic partnership signed with local developer MDC² in Poland, where CTP aims to build and own a portfolio of full-service high-quality business parks totalling at least 1.75 million sqm of GLA until the end of 2025. Construction of the first three projects is expected to start in Q1 2021 in the Warsaw and Katowice areas with a total investment volume of approximately €200 million in 2021. Partnering with this team of seasoned local professionals will help CTP rapidly build a strong footprint in CEE’s largest logistics market.
  • The other strategic transaction is in Austria, where CTP has acquired land in several locations around Vienna, with first construction activities scheduled to start this year.

In addition to using its retained profits to fund growth, further expansion of CTP will also be financed through green bonds. CTP’s first two bonds were issued in October and November 2020 respectively, raising in total over €1 billion. These largest green bond issuances for a CEE logistics property developer in history met significant interest among investors and have been trading well since then. “The performance of our CTP green bonds has been impressive - we now see our 2025 bonds trading at a yield of circa 0.8%, compared to our cost of debt on our existing bank loans of 2.1%,” comments Jan-Evert Post, Head of Funding & Investor Relations at CTP.

CTP chose to issue green bonds following its 2019 commitment to certify its entire portfolio of logistics and industrial projects to the highest BREEAM standards, the leading European validation process focused on sustainability and energy efficiency for commercial property. In January 2021, the company successfully obtained BREEAM certificates for its entire logistics and industrial portfolio: 292 completed buildings in some 100 different locations in six countries, with scores on its In-Use status as “Very Good“ or “Excellent“. CTP is widely recognised as a frontrunner on sustainability in the sector in Europe.