29th Apr 2019 10:54
LONDON (Alliance News) - Lok'nStore Group PLC on Monday said its revenue and profit increased in the first half of its current financial year, thanks for higher prices and improved occupancy.
The self-storage company said pretax profit in the six months to the end of January grew by 20% to GBP2.7 million from GBP2.2 million a year prior, as revenue rose by 12% to GBP8.5 million from GBP7.6 million.
The company explain that revenue was lifted by occupancy growth of 8%, with prices up 1.4%. Lok'nStore also opened a new store in Dover during the period, and now has 31 freehold, leasehold and managed stores trading.
In the first half, operating costs were up 14% year-on-year, driven by new store openings. On a like-for-like basis Lok'nStore's operating costs amounted to GBP4.2 million, a 2.7% increase on the prior year, driven by a higher level of legal and professional costs.
Lok'nStore declared an interim payout of 3.67 pence a share, up 10% from 3.33p paid the year before.
"Lok'nStore's trading is strong and our outlook remains confident," said Chief Executive Andrew Jacobs.
"Our objective is to open more landmark stores while remaining conservatively geared delivering sustainable growth and consistently increasing dividends," added Jacobs.
Lok'nStore shares were trading 1.0% higher on Monday at 500.00 pence each.
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