21st Jan 2016 08:12
LONDON (Alliance News) - Self-storage centre provider Safestore Holdings PLC on Thursday posted a big rise in pretax profit in the year to the end of October, mostly due to a massive gain made on its property values, but also as its revenue grew.
FTSE 250-listed Safestore said its pretax profit for the year to October 31 was GBP118.2 million, more than double the GBP52.4 million it made a year earlier, mostly due to the GBP78.9 million gain it made on the value of its investment properties, compared to a GBP24.1 million gain a year earlier.
This was accompanied by a strong trading performance for the company, with revenue rising 7.0% to GBP104.8 million from GBP97.9 million and its like-for-like revenue growing 8.9%. The group's closing occupancy rate improved to 72.6%, from 68.8% at the end of October 2014, and its average storage rental rate rose 2.5%.
Safestore said its operational performance across the UK was strong over the year, with enquiry growth outpacing the rest of the market and improvements in its conversion rate helping its rental growth. It also performed well in Paris over the year, with its occupancy rate well above the group total at 81.8%.
Safestore hiked its final dividend to 6.65 pence per share, up from 5.30p, resulting in a 30% rise in its total dividend to 9.65p from 7.45p.
"The operational initiatives implemented over the last two years continue to drive our financial performance and, as a result, we have reported cash tax adjusted earnings per share ahead of our original expectations for the full year and up 50% over two years," said Chief Executive Frederic Vecchioli.
Shares in Safestore were up 3.9% to 342.9 pence early Thursday, one of the best performers in the FTSE 250.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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