15th Jan 2008 07:00
Big Yellow Group PLC15 January 2008 15 January 2008 Big Yellow Group PLC ("Big Yellow" or "the Company") Interim Management Statement The Board of Big Yellow Group PLC, the UK's leading self storage brand, ispleased to provide the following update on trading for the quarter ending 31December 2007. Quarterly highlights • Revenue for the quarter was £14.4 million - Up 12% from £12.9 million for the same quarter last year - Down 5% from £15.1 million for the quarter to 30 September 2007 • Annualised revenue (*) at 31 December was £54.7 million - Up 12% from £48.9 million at the same time last year - Down 5% from £57.8 million at 30 September 2007 • 1,800,000 sq ft occupied at the quarter end - Up 5% from 1,718,000(**) sq ft at the same time last year - Down 5% from 1,886,000(**) sq ft occupied at 30 September 2007 Store update We have opened two new stores in the quarter, a 54,400 sq ft store in Ealing and a 60,000 sq ft store in Barking. The 71,600 sq ft Leeds store was transferred to Big Yellow Limited Partnership ("the Partnership") on 30 November as set out in our announcement of 26 November. We now have 45 open stores (all directly owned except Leeds) with a total self storage capacity of 2.75 million sq ft. We intend to open a further three directly owned stores in this financial year, in Balham (60,000 sq ft), Merton (70,000 sq ft) and our flagship 139,000 sq ft store in Fulham. Since announcing our interim results in November, we have acquired Kings House, Chiswick This landmark freehold site fronts the A4 arterial road and we estimate will provide over 100,000 sq ft of self storage. The building is currently let to Sotheby's and vacant possession should be available during 2010. We intend to refurbish the existing building and therefore a substantive planning permission will not be required. This brings the total number of sites purchased in the financial year to ten. We have also purchased the freehold interest of our existing Cheltenham store, increasing the freehold (including one long leasehold) proportion of our store portfolio by value to 91%. The number of stores open and sites in planning or under development (including five in the Partnership) now total 73. Of the 28 sites in the development pipeline, 12 have planning permission, with a further three applications submitted. Planning update We are pleased to announce that we have obtained planning consent at our site in Twickenham. When complete, this will provide 75,000 sq ft of storage space. The store will open in Summer 2009. We have recently been unsuccessful in our appeal against the refusal of planning permission at our site in Blackheath. We are currently reviewing our options for the site. Gearing and facilities The balance sheet continues to remain relatively conservative with net debt of £261 million at 31 December 2007. The ratio based on net debt to gross property assets based on the 30 September 2007 valuations is 33%. The Group has undrawn bank facilities of £62 million, with a further £66 million of undrawn facilities within the Big Yellow Limited Partnership, and £25.4 million of surplus land held for sale. James Gibson, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "As indicated in our interim statement in November, trading conditions have been more challenging over our third financial quarter. That said, December's performance was better than last year and we are currently experiencing an earlier than usual seasonal pick up. Visibility of our trading performance is limited at this stage, however we look forward to seeing whether this improvement continues." * Based on revenue at the end of the period in respect of storage and other related income only** This has been adjusted for the Leeds store, which is not included in these figures as it now trades in Big Yellow Limited Partnership For further information, please contact: Big Yellow Group PLC 01276 477 811Nicholas Vetch, ChairmanJames Gibson, Chief Executive Officer Weber Shandwick Financial 020 7067 0700Louise Robson/John Moriarty/Charlie Hooper Notes to EditorsBig Yellow Group PLC is one of the leading and most dynamic self-storage groupsin the UK. It was founded in 1998 by Nicholas Vetch, Philip Burks and JamesGibson and listed on AIM in May 2000, moving to the Official List of the LondonStock Exchange in 2002. Big Yellow has expanded rapidly and now operates from 44 stores in London andthe South, and one in Leeds (trading in Big Yellow Limited Partnership), with afurther 28 stores in development and of the 73, 63 are held freehold and threelong leasehold. All the stores have the distinct yellow branding, in accessiblemain road locations, with the majority being within the M25 or in strong urbanconurbations. When fully built out the portfolio will provide approximately 4.6million sq ft of flexible storage space. The Group has pioneered the development of the latest generation of self-storagefacilities, which utilise state of the art technology and are located in highprofile, main road locations. Its focus on the location and visibility of itsbuildings, coupled with excellent customer service, has created the mostrecognised brand name in the UK self-storage industry. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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