Montea Good things come to those who wait (for the big boxes)

Yesterday, Montea reported results that had an initial negative market reaction. After the call, the management and chairman Dirk De Pauw were available for a sit-down lunch to give more colour. The Q&A session centered on the pace of the development pipeline. Montea removed its project table as it believes it hurts their negotiating capacity. Now, it just reports an expected GLA of 236k sqm that will be completed over the next 2 years. The reason why it takes longer to develop the landbank is also due to the selectivity of Montea to certain projects. It reserves its best plots for single tenant projects with a high degree of automation. These projects can result in a higher rent/sqm due to the 3-dimensional aspect. While these projects take a longer decision process due to the high investment and economic uncertainty, they benefit from a longer WALT. We believe Montea remains on track with its big box strategy and also a focus on France. We value the long term value potential of its 3.4m sqm landbank.