SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- AMB Property Corporation® (NYSE: AMB), a leading owner, operator and developer of global industrial real estate, today released its third quarter AMB Industrial Business Indicator ("IBI"), a diffusion index that integrates customer-provided insights with key macroeconomic variables to measure and forecast business activity and industrial real estate demand.
"Our latest research indicates that the industrial market reached an inflection point in the third quarter as we saw positive net absorption for the first time in three years," said David Twist, AMB's vice president, Research. "The timing of this turnaround is consistent with our forecast from our June 2009 research. We expect to see net absorption remain positive throughout the fourth quarter and into 2011."
Key Findings
- Industrial real estate market reached an inflection point in the third quarter, which is consistent with AMB's June 2009 forecast.
- Overall business activity measured 60.3, up from 56.3 in August, which implies that AMB's customers' businesses are continuing to expand.
- Industrial space utilization measured 54.2 and has been higher than 50 for four straight months, indicating that AMB's customers are continuing to rebuild their inventories.
- Inbound container traffic rebounded with double-digit growth and global air cargo volumes surpassed their previous peak.
- Gateway markets will lead the recovery in operating fundamentals with a stronger and broader recovery taking hold in 2011.
AMB collects data from a geographically-diverse set of warehousing and logistics customers across a range of business sectors. The AMB IBI consists of an overall business activity index and a distribution space utilization index, tabulated for AMB's markets and industry groups. The indices have averaged more than 350 participants per month. The findings indicate that the AMB IBI is highly correlated with, and a leading indicator of, key macroeconomic variables. Of greatest significance, the AMB IBI leads net industrial absorption by a quarter with a correlation of 97 percent, and seaborne container volumes by one month with a correlation of 85 percent.
AMB's research reports can be downloaded from the company's website at www.amb.com/global_capabilities/research.html.
AMB Property Corporation.® Local partner to global trade.™
AMB Property Corporation® is a leading owner, operator and developer of global industrial real estate, focused on major hub and gateway distribution markets in the Americas, Europe and Asia. As of June 30, 2010, AMB owned, or had investments in, on a consolidated basis or through unconsolidated joint ventures, properties and development projects expected to total approximately 156.1 million square feet (14.5 million square meters) in 48 markets within 15 countries. AMB invests in properties located predominantly in the infill submarkets of its targeted markets. The company's portfolio comprises High Throughput Distribution® facilities--industrial properties built for speed and located near airports, seaports and ground transportation systems.
AMB's press releases are available on the company website at www.amb.com or by contacting the Investor Relations department at +1 415 394 9000.
Some of the information included in this press release contains forward-looking statements, such as those related to our expectations for trade growth in the U.S. and globally, business activity, industrial real estate demand, and gateway market demand, which are made pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Because these forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, there are important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, and you should not rely on the forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events or circumstances reflected in forward-looking statements might not occur. You can identify forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects," "may," "will," "should," "seeks," "approximately," "intends," "plans," "pro forma," "estimates" or "anticipates" or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases. You can also identify forward-looking statements by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions. Forward-looking statements are necessarily dependent on assumptions, data or methods that may be incorrect or imprecise and we may not be able to realize them. We caution you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect our analysis only and speak only as of the date of this report or the dates indicated in the statements. We assume no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those set forth or contemplated in the forward-looking statements: changes in general economic conditions in California, the U.S. or globally (including financial market fluctuations), global trade or in the real estate sector (including risks relating to decreasing real estate valuations and impairment charges); risks associated with using debt to fund the company's business activities, including refinancing and interest rate risks (including inflation risks); the company's failure to obtain, renew, or extend necessary financing or access the debt or equity markets; the company's failure to maintain its current credit agency ratings or comply with its debt covenants; risks related to the company's obligations in the event of certain defaults under co-investment venture and other debt; risks associated with equity and debt securities financings and issuances (including the risk of dilution); defaults on or non-renewal of leases by customers or renewal at lower than expected rent or failure to lease at all or on expected terms; difficulties in identifying properties, portfolios of properties, or interests in real-estate related entities or platforms to acquire and in effecting acquisitions on advantageous terms and the failure of acquisitions to perform as the company expects; unknown liabilities acquired in connection with the acquired properties, portfolios of properties, or interests in real-estate related entities; the company's failure to successfully integrate acquired properties and operations; risks and uncertainties affecting property development, redevelopment and value-added conversion (including construction delays, cost overruns, the company's inability to obtain necessary permits and financing, the company's inability to lease properties at all or at favorable rents and terms, and public opposition to these activities); the company's failure to set up additional funds, attract additional investment in existing funds or to contribute properties to its co-investment ventures due to such factors as its inability to acquire, develop, or lease properties that meet the investment criteria of such ventures, or the co-investment ventures' inability to access debt and equity capital to pay for property contributions or their allocation of available capital to cover other capital requirements; risks and uncertainties relating to the disposition of properties to third parties and the company's ability to effect such transactions on advantageous terms and to timely reinvest proceeds from any such dispositions; risks of doing business internationally and global expansion, including unfamiliarity with the new markets and currency and hedging risks; risks of changing personnel and roles; risks related to suspending, reducing or changing the company's dividends; losses in excess of the company's insurance coverage; changes in local, state and federal regulatory requirements, including changes in real estate and zoning laws; increases in real property tax rates; risks associated with the company's tax structuring; increases in interest rates and operating costs or greater than expected capital expenditures; environmental uncertainties; risks related to natural disasters; and our failure to qualify and maintain our status as a real estate investment trust. Our success also depends upon economic trends generally, various market conditions and fluctuations and those other risk factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009.
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