16th Jul 2014 09:24
LONDON (Alliance News) - Self-storage business Big Yellow Group PLC Wednesday said it had a strong trading performance in its first quarter, with increased revenues driven mainly by growth in both occupancy and rental yield.
The company, which operates mainly in London and the South East, said its wholly owned stores grew in occupancy during the three months ended June 30 by 125,000 square feet, while move-ins in its like-for-like wholly owned stores were up 6% on the previous year.
Big Yellow Group said its total store revenues for its 55 stores open at June 30 was GBP18.6 million for the quarter, which represents a 5% increase on the previous quarter and an 11% increase on the previous year.
The company said its like-for-like closing occupancy across the 54 stores open at April 1 was 73% of their 3.4 million square foot maximum lettable area, compared to 69.8% at March 31.
It also said net rent per square foot of the 55 stores at June 30 was GBP26.37, which is an increase of 0.8% on the previous quarter and 5.2% on the previous year.
The company also said its 33.3% owned Big Yellow Ltd Partnership increased occupancy and net rent, achieving total store revenue of GBP2.6 million for the quarter.
Big Yellow Group said its 20% owned Armadillo Stores also saw occupancy growth and net rent improvements on the previous year, with total store revenue of GBP1.1 million.
"The first quarter is historically our strongest quarter, but we would expect to deliver further occupancy gains in the second quarter," Chief Executive Officer James Gibson said in a statement.
Big Yellow Group shares were up 2.8% to 504.00 pence, putting it in the top five FTSE 250 risers on Wednesday.
By Tom McIvor; [email protected]; @TomMcIvor1
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