(Alliance News) - Safestore Holdings PLC on Thursday hailed a "record-breaking" year of results as it maintained steady top-line growth and more than doubled profits.
Pretax profit in the financial year that ended October 31 widened significantly to GBP404.6 million from GBP197.9 million, boosted by an increased gain on investment properties of GBP321.1 million.
The self-storage provider posted revenue in the same period of GBP186.8 million, up 15% from GBP162.3 million the year before. The group had traded strongly throughout the year with momentum improving as the year progressed, Safestore said.
"I am pleased to report an exceptional and record result for the year," said Chief Executive Frederic Vecchioli. "The company has weathered the pandemic well and remains in a very strong position."
Following the promising results for the year, Safestore increased its final dividend by 39% to 17.6 pence from 12.7p the year before. The year's total payout was 25.1p, up from 18.6p.
Shares in the company were 1.3% lower at 1,314.90 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
Looking ahead, Vecchioli explained the strong performance seen in the final quarter has continued into the first two months of the new financial year with like-for-like revenue up 17% year-on-year. Despite the current high levels of occupancy, the business still has 1.1 million square foot of currently unlet space in its estate in addition to 800,000 sq ft in its pipeline.
By Will Paige; willpaige@alliancenews.com
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Safestore (SAFE)