22nd Jan 2015 11:28
LONDON (Alliance News) - Self-storage company Safestore Holdings PLC Thursday delivered a higher profit for its last financial year, buoyed by revenue growth and improvements in occupancy.
Safestore reported a pretax profit of GBP52.4 million for the year to end-October, up from GBP48.6 million the year before, helped by a 1.9% increase in revenue to GBP97.9 million from GBP96.1 million. Like-for-like revenue was up 3.4%.
The group had said back in November that revenue growth was continuing to accelerate and it was expecting its cash tax earnings per share for the full year to be slightly above market expectations as it also focused on cost control and cash management.
"The revenue performance has strengthened throughout the year and, combined with our continued focus on cost control and cash management, has resulted in cash tax adjusted earnings per share being ahead of consensus [of 13.0 pence] for the full year," said Chief Executive Frederic Vecchioli in the company's statement Thursday, having reported earnings per share on the same basis of 23.2 pence.
The group declared a 36% increase in the final dividend to 5.30p per share, resulting in a full year dividend of 7.45 pence per share, a 30% increase on the prior year's 5.75 pence pay-out.
Safestore said like-for-like revenue increases in both the UK and France were driven by both improved occupancy and storage rate growth. Closing occupancy improved 3.5 percentage points to 68.8%, while the average storage rate grew by 0.5% at constant exchange rates, compared with a 0.6% decline at actual rates, due to a strong pound. Revenue per average square foot rose 3.2% to GBP19.31.
The company's Paris operations took a hit during the year due to the strength of sterling. However at constant currency rates, increased revenue by 4.4% on the back of improvements in occupancy and storage rates.
Safestore said pricing policy changes in the UK drove positive rate growth in the region, as it reduced discounting.
The group said it is encouraged by the continued improvement in occupancy and rate trends its seen since the financial year end.
"We have strong market positions in both the UK and Paris and substantial scope for further operational upside, with 1.6 million square feet of space to fill. With more favourable economic conditions and limited new supply coming into the self-storage market, the industry is well positioned for growth," the company said.
Safestore shares were trading 1.0% higher at 263.69 pence late Thursday morning.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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