17th Jul 2025 11:19
(Alliance News) - Big Yellow Group PLC on Thursday reported revenue growth for the first quarter of its current financial year despite "macroeconomic uncertainty", as it continues to focus on reducing expenses and prepares for a slew of store openings later in the year.
The Surrey, England-based self-storage company said total revenue for the three months that ended June 30 was GBP51.5 million, which was 2.6% higher than GBP50.2 million the year before.
Closing occupancy was down 2.8% at 5.1 million square feet against 5.2 million square feet a year prior. Closing net achieved rent per square foot was GBP35.75, rising 5.0% from GBP34.06.
Big Yellow said it has continued to focus on cost control during the first quarter, and that its investment into automation has resulted in reduced headcount and staff costs "without impacting customer service".
Like-for-like store operating expenses were broadly in line with the quarter before, though the firm anticipates expenses will increase by 2% to 3% across the full year.
It added: "If short term interest rates continue to fall, we will benefit from our GBP223 million of floating rate debt, representing 54% of our total debt".
Big Yellow is set to open its new 70,000 square feet store in Staines "later this month", plus a further three stores during the remainder of the year. The Queensbury store is due to open in October, the Slough Bath Road store in February 2026, and the Wembley, London store in March 2026.
The company expects to open four additional stores in financial 2027, with a store in West Kensington, London to follow in financial 2028.
"As stated in our May results, we saw some softening of demand and loss of occupancy at the start of the quarter due to elevated levels of macroeconomic uncertainty. Despite this we have delivered strong average rate growth of 5% through our yield management processes, which has resulted in 3% revenue growth for the quarter compared to last year," said Chief Executive Officer Jim Gibson.
"We saw some improvement in demand through the quarter, which has continued into July, with improved year-on-year occupancy performance. Our customer base remains stable with move-outs lower than last year."
Shares in Big Yellow were up 2.3% at 932.00 pence in London on Thursday morning. The stock remains down 24% over the past year.
By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
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