Safestore Set To Meet Full-Year Expectations On Solid Third Quarter

LONDON (Alliance News) - Self-storage provider Safestore Holdings PLC on Thursday said it anticipates meeting its expectations for the full year following a solid third quarter, though it sees its occupancy rate declining in the fourth quarter, in line with normal seasonal trading patterns.

Safestore said its occupancy is likely to decline in the fourth quarter against the third, but it remains confident in meeting its expectations for the year to the end of October.

For the third quarter to the end of July, Safestore said its revenue was up to GBP26.7 million from GBP24.9 million, boosted by its like-for-like revenue increasing to GBP26.6 million from GBP24.5 million. A weak euro dragged on its revenue performance, but its reported revenue still increased by high single-digit percentages. Like-for-like revenue was up 12% in the UK and 8.9% in Paris.

For the nine months to the end of July, revenue was up to GBP77.1 million from GBP71.8 million. The group's average storage rate in the third quarter rose by 2.2% to GBP24.53 per unit, while its year-to-date storage rate increased 2.7%.

Safestore said its closing occupancy rate at the end of July was 72.2%, up from 68.4% a year earlier.

"Now that we have annualised many of the operational initiatives implemented over the last 18 months, I am pleased to report continuing positive trading across the group. I believe we can continue to improve performance further and we remain focused on the significant opportunity represented by our 1.4 million square feet of currently unlet space," said Chief Executive Frederic Vecchioli.

"As we look towards the end of the current financial year, we remain confident in generating cash tax adjusted earnings in line with the board's expectations," he added.

Shares in Safestore were up 2.6% early Thursday, having last traded at 302.89 pence.

By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance

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