Share price
Although WDP did not escape the worldwide financial and economic crisis in the first half of 2009, the impact on the share price tended to be limited, certainly compared to 2008. On 31 December 2008 the closing price on Euronext Brussels was EUR 30.15. In the first months of 2009 it softened further to EUR 28, where it appears to have bottomed out however. On 30 June 2009 it closed at EUR 29. This took the shares below their net asset value of EUR 30.66 (excluding IAS 39) as at the end of June. The net asset value per share including IAS 39 on 30 June was EUR 28.18.
Despite this negative evolution of the share price – which is at odds with WDP’s good business performance – WDP can be said so far to have contained the impact of the crisis, and the closed-end property investment company can be judged to have held up better than many of its international peers. This is partly attributable to the importance that potential investors and shareholders attach to the added value offered by WDP, which is comfortably higher than the net asset value – the mere sum total of the investment value of the various properties. It comprises for instance WDP’s position as the Belgian market leader in semi-industrial property, and the favourable tax regime under which the closed-end property investment company operates in both Belgium and France.
The fact that WDP is a self-managed fund, in which management is carried out within the company and fully in the service of shareholders, is likewise greatly valued by investors. In addition, the property portfolio instantly affords investors substantial advantages of scale in specific regions. The stable dividend also ensures that many investors retain their faith in WDP.