Building scale and presence

The CEE investment market has maintained its growth momentum from 2013, with transaction volumes remaining robust. According to data published by JLL, in H1 2014 there was an app. 65 pct y-o-y increase in volumes compared with the same period of 2013. Poland and the Czech Republic are the leading markets, accounting for 75 pct of the recorded transactions.

When it comes to the industrial sector, investors are predominantly interested in portfolio acquisitions of standardised blue-chip products within core locations, preferably portfolios spread across the CEE region or Europe.

We have also witnessed increased liquidity on the Czech Republic market, and taking into account the ongoing transactions - in particular in the industrial sector - we should expect a record transaction volume this year, setting new yield benchmarks for the market.

In Hungary, meanwhile, a few significant transactions are expected to take place later in the year, but the warehouse investment volumes remain limited when compared with Poland and the Czech Republic - it still falls below 10 pct of the combined volume for the CEE region. Although not all investors are yet convinced that the economy has recovered, some positive signals have been observed which in the medium term could have a positive impact on the dynamics of the market.

As for Segro, we have completed two major acquisitions this year in Central Europe, both being part of larger pan-European transactions and totalling almost 200,000 sqm of modern logistics space. These deals underline Segro’s strategy of building scale and expanding our presence in our target European logistics markets.