Big Yellow Regulatory News (BYG)

11 July 2013

Big Yellow Group PLC

("Big Yellow" or "the Group")

Interim Management Statement

The Board of Big Yellow Group PLC, the UK's brand leader in self storage, is pleased to provide the following update on trading for the first quarter ending 30 June 2013. 

The Group traded well in the first quarter and in line with expectations, achieving improvements in occupancy and rental yield in both its wholly owned and partnership stores.

54 Wholly Owned Stores

Occupancy

The wholly owned stores grew in occupancy by 134,000 sq ft (quarter to 30 June 2012: 122,000 sq ft). Move-ins in the like-for-like wholly owned stores were up 5.4% on the quarter to 30 June 2012.

The closing occupancy across the 54 stores was 2,357,000 sq ft, representing 68.7% of their 3,432,000 sq ft total maximum lettable area ("MLA"), compared to 64.8% of MLA at 31 March 2013 and 65.7% of MLA at 30 June 2012. 

The 32 established stores with a total MLA of 1,941,000 sq ft, and average MLA of 60,700 sq ft, have increased in occupancy to 1,474,000 sq ft (75.9% of MLA)

- Up 61,000 sq ft from 1,413,000 sq ft (72.8% of MLA) at 31 March 2013

- Down 18,000 sq ft from 1,492,000 sq ft (76.9% of MLA) at 30 June 2012

The 22 lease-up stores with a total MLA of 1,491,000 sq ft, and average MLA of 67,800 sq ft, have increased in occupancy to 883,000 sq ft (59.2% of MLA)

- Up 73,000 sq ft from 810,000 sq ft (54.3% of MLA) at 31 March 2013

- Up 120,000 sq ft from 763,000 sq ft (51.2% of MLA) at 30 June 2012

Rental yield

The net rent per sq ft of the 54 stores at 30 June 2013 was £25.07, an increase of 1.7% from £24.65 at 31 March 2013. The net rent of the 32 established stores at 30 June 2013 was £25.18, an increase of 1.9% from £24.72 at 31 March 2013.

The 54 stores achieved an average net rent per sq ft over the quarter of £25.18, up 0.2% from £25.14 for the quarter to 31 March 2013 and down 6.3% from £26.88 for the same quarter last year.

Revenue and REVPAF

Total store revenue for the 54 stores was £16.7 million for the quarter

- Up 5.0% from £15.9 million for the quarter to 31 March 2013

- Down 1.2% from £16.9 million for the same quarter last year. This fall in revenue is in line with the guidance given at our full year results, and is the result of the reduction in the average rental yield following the introduction of VAT on self storage sales from 1 October 2012, offset in part by growth in occupancy.

This excludes management fees and non-storage rental income earned of £0.3 million (quarter to 31 March 2013: £0.4 million, same quarter last year: £0.4 million).

Revenue per available foot ("REVPAF") was £19.47 for the quarter, an increase of 3.8% from £18.75 for the quarter ended 31 March 2013 and a decrease of 1.3% from £19.73 for the quarter ended 30 June 2012.

12 Big Yellow Limited Partnership ("Partnership") Stores

Occupancy

Occupancy across the 12 stores grew by 35,000 sq ft in the quarter to 444,000 sq ft, representing 59.3% of their 749,000 sq ft total MLA at 30 June 2013.

This compares to 386,000 sq ft occupied (51.5% of MLA) at the same time last year and 409,000 (54.6% of MLA) sq ft occupied at 31 March 2013.

Rental yield

The net rent per sq ft of the 12 stores at 30 June 2013 was £17.24, an increase of 3.1% from £16.72 at 31 March 2013. 

The twelve stores achieved an average net rent per sq ft over the quarter of £17.25, up 1.5% from £17.00 for the quarter to 31 March 2013 and 4.9% down from £18.14 for the same quarter last year.

Revenue and REVPAF

Total store revenue for the 12 stores was £2.2 million for the quarter

- Up 10% from £2.0 million for the quarter to 31 March 2013

- Up 16% from £1.9 million for the same quarter last year

Revenue per available foot ("REVPAF") was £11.78 for the quarter, an increase of 7.4% from £10.97 for the quarter ended 31 March 2013 and an increase of 13.7% from £10.36 for the quarter ended 30 June 2012.

Store update

We have commenced construction of our 70,000 sq ft store at Gypsy Corner, West London, in a prominent location on the A40. The store will open in April 2014.

James Gibson, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"This is a good start to the year with improving demand and we expect to deliver further occupancy gains over the summer.

The performance for the year will depend on our historically weaker December quarter when we see a spike in short term vacates from domestic and student customers.

Our focus remains on earnings and cash flow growth through increasing occupancy and revenue leveraging off our market leading brand and operating platform."

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Notes to Editors

Big Yellow Group PLC is the best known and one of the most dynamic self storage groups in the UK. It was founded in September 1998 by Nicholas Vetch, Philip Burks, and James Gibson and listed on AIM in May 2000, moving to the Official List of the London Stock Exchange in June 2002. 

Big Yellow has expanded rapidly and now operates from 66 stores, 58 in London and the South, two in Sheffield, and one each in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham and Stockport. We own a further four development sites, of which three have planning. Of the 70 total stores and sites, 59 are held freehold and four long leasehold (together representing approximately 94% by value of the total property assets); seven stores are held short leasehold. All the stores have distinct yellow branding, with the majority being within the M25 or in strong urban conurbations. The Group currently operates from a platform of 4.2 million sq ft. When fully built out the portfolio will provide approximately 4.4 million sq ft of flexible storage space. 

The Group has pioneered the development of the latest generation of self storage facilities, which utilise state of the art technology and are located in high profile, accessible, main road locations. Our focus on the location and visibility of our buildings, coupled with our excellent customer service, has created the most recognised brand name in the UK self storage industry.