18th Jan 2005 07:00
Big Yellow Group PLC18 January 2005 18 January 2005 Big Yellow Group PLC Quarterly Trading Update The Board of Big Yellow Group PLC, the self storage company, is pleased toprovide the following update on trading for the quarter ending 31 December 2004. • Turnover for the quarter was £8.8 million - Up 40% from £6.3 million for the same quarter last year - Up 6% from £8.3 million for the quarter to 30 September 2004 • Annualised revenue is now £35.0 million - Up 36% from £25.7 million at the same time last year - Unchanged from £35.0 million at 30 September 2004 • Profit before tax of £1.07 million for the third quarter - Up 106% from £0.52 million for the same quarter last year - Up 8% from £0.99 million for the quarter to 30 September 2004 • 1,418,000 sq ft occupied at the quarter end - Up 20% from 1,181,000 sq ft at the same time last year - Up 1% from 1,403,000 sq ft at 30 September 2004 • The number of customers increased to 23,600 compared to 19,100 at 31 December 2003 and 23,300 at 30 September 2004 • Packing materials, insurance and other sales were 12.2% of storage income for the quarter to 31 December 2004 (quarter to 31 December 2003: 13.1% and quarter to 30 September 2004: 15.0%) • One store at Tolworth opened in the quarter bringing the total number of open stores to 32 with a total capacity of 1.91 million square feet of which 74% was occupied at the quarter end. • One freehold site has been acquired in the quarter at Leeds, which when developed will provide an additional 70,000 of square feet net storage. This brings the number of stores open or committed to 43 providing a total of 2.65 million square feet when completed. James Gibson, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "In the face of testing market conditions and in our weakest trading quarter,the Group's performance has proved relatively resilient. "We have been successful at acquiring 5 sites in the year to date, including ourfirst store in Leeds. However, we continue to experience planning delays,particularly in London. "We now look forward to our historically busier trading period, commencing inearly Spring". - Ends - For further information, please contact: Big Yellow Group PLC 01276 470 190Nicholas Vetch, Executive ChairmanJames Gibson, Chief Executive Officer Weber Shandwick Square Mile 020 7067 0700Louise Robson/Yvonne Alexander Notes to Editors Big 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 May 2002. Big Yellow has expanded rapidly and now operates from 32 stores in London andthe South, with a further 11 stores in development and of the 43, 33 are heldfreehold and one long leasehold. All trading stores, with the distinct yellowbranding, are less than five years old, the majority are located within the M25and the remainder in strong retail towns in the South. When fully built out theportfolio will provide approximately 2.65 million sq ft of flexible storagespace. Big Yellow currently has 23.600 customers. 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 storage industry. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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