Goodman cements march in Europe

The deal is part of Goodman's ?135 million ($180 million) worth of warehouse space being built in Germany, equal to about 235,000 square metres of new space.

Under the plan with Amazon, Goodman will build a 110,000 sq m warehouse and office space in Rheinberg, starting this month.

Greg Goodman, the group's chief executive, said at the interim results that Europe was a key market for the industrial trust - a large portion of its overall $10 billion development pipeline is earmarked for the region.

"We seem to be past the hardest hurdles and look forward to improved conditions," he said.

"The Amazon development reflects the strength of customer demand for prime quality logistics space and further builds on the momentum in Goodman's development business in western Europe."

Goodman bought 317,000 sq m of land in Rheinberg with links to the A57 motorway as well as a possible rail connection. The remaining land at the site is available for development.

Mr Goodman forecast a solid performance from the group's development business as Goodman rolls out $10 billion worth of developments in key markets around the world, including a number of opportunities across western Europe.

Goodman reported an operating profit after tax of $170.5 million for the six months to December 31, up 23 per cent on the same period a year earlier.

Mr Goodman said developments in Europe and Asia will be the main focus, but the group will also spend time merging the ING Industrial Fund business to boost the funds-under-management operations.

Deutsche Bank's Ian Randall estimated that a successful completion of the ING Industrial transaction will add about 2.5 per cent to Goodman's earnings per security from the 2012 financial year and about $2.6 billion to Goodman's funds under management.