Sale of NQX Distribution Centre Brisbane

8 August 2002

Port of Brisbane Corporation Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Coleman, announced today that the Corporation had decided to sell its freehold interest in the NQX Distribution Centre at Eagle Farm.

He said that the Corporation had taken the view that the capital from fully developed properties, such as the NQX facility, could now be more effectively utilised to further develop the Port of Brisbane as Queensland’s major diversified trading port.

“The Port of Brisbane is Australia’s third busiest container port, and we are committed to continuing to provide the infrastructure and facilities needed by port users.

“The Corporation will in future give consideration to the sale of specific, fully developed properties where tenants are secure in tenure and positioned to benefit from their location near port facilities, and where long-term control through ownership is not essential to future port activities. This will not apply to any property at Fisherman Islands, and no other properties are available for sale at this time,” he said.

NQX is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toll Holdings Limited, one of Australia’s fastest-growing companies. It is a market leader in transport and logistics, and recently formed a joint venture with Patrick Corporation to acquire National Rail Corporation.

NQX decided to relocate to the Corporation’s Eagle Farm Estate less than two years ago, due to its prime location near the Gateway Motorway, giving it easy access to the whole of South East Queensland and beyond.

The property comprises a high-quality warehouse and distribution centre, office accommodation, separate truck-maintenance building, truck wash, and hard stand for heavy vehicles over the balance of the site. Total building area is just under 19,000m², and the site area is 6.3 hectares. Site coverage is approximately 30 per cent, and further expansion is available if required by the tenant.

Mr Coleman said, “The building has been constructed to the highest quality, with expansion potential. The tenant has chosen Brisbane’s prime location for this type of facility, and a long-term lease is in place to one of the nation’s leading public companies. Properties like this are keenly sought after, and we anticipate strong interest from the Australian investment community.

“Agents will be appointed shortly to undertake the sale on behalf of the Corporation, and formal marketing will commence in early September. With the present strength of the property market, we would anticipate a selling yield of better than 8.5%. We anticipate that a sale will be concluded before the end of the year,” he said.