Big Yellow Regulatory News (BYG)

16 July 2014

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 2014. 

The Group delivered a solid trading performance in the first quarter, in line with expectations, driven principally through growth in both occupancy and rental yield.

55 Wholly Owned Stores

Occupancy

The wholly owned stores grew in occupancy in the quarter by 125,000 sq ft (quarter to 30 June 2013: 134,000 sq ft). Move-ins in the like-for-like wholly owned stores were up 6% on the quarter to 30 June 2013.

The like-for-like closing occupancy across the 54 stores open at 1 April 2013 was 73.0% of their 3,421,000 sq ft maximum lettable area ("MLA"), compared to 69.8% of MLA at 31 March 2014 and 68.7% of MLA at 30 June 2013. 

The 32 established stores with an MLA of 1,930,000 sq ft, and average MLA of 60,300 sq ft, have increased in occupancy to 1,501,000 sq ft (77.8% of MLA)

- Up 49,000 sq ft from 1,452,000 sq ft (75.2% of MLA) at 31 March 2014

- Up 27,000 sq ft from 1,474,000 sq ft (76.4% of MLA) at 30 June 2013

The 23 lease-up stores (including the recently opened Gypsy Corner) with an MLA of 1,561,000 sq ft, and average MLA of 67,900 sq ft, have increased in occupancy to 1,012,000 sq ft (64.8% of MLA)

- Up 76,000 sq ft from 936,000 sq ft (60.0% of current MLA) at 31 March 2014

- Up 129,000 sq ft from 883,000 sq ft (56.6% of current MLA) at 30 June 2013

Rental yield

The net rent per sq ft of the 55 stores at 30 June 2014 was £26.37, an increase of 0.8% from £26.15 at 31 March 2014, and an increase of 5.2% from £25.07 at 30 June 2013. 

The net rent of the 32 established stores at 30 June 2014 was £26.58, an increase of 1.3% from £26.23 at 31 March 2014, and an increase of 5.6% from £25.18 at 30 June 2013.

The 55 stores achieved an average net rent per sq ft over the quarter of £26.33, up 1.3% from £25.99 for the quarter to 31 March 2014 and up 4.6% from £25.18 for the same quarter last year.

Revenue and REVPAF

Total store revenue for the 55 stores was £18.6 million for the quarter

- Up 5% from £17.7 million for the quarter to 31 March 2014

- Up 11% from £16.7 million for the same quarter last year. 

This excludes management fees and non-storage rental income earned of £0.3 million (quarter to 31 March 2014: £0.3 million, same quarter last year: £0.3 million).

Revenue per available foot ("REVPAF") was £21.36 for the quarter, an increase of 2.3% from £20.87 for the quarter ended 31 March 2014 and an increase of 9.7% from £19.47 for the quarter ended 30 June 2013.

12 Big Yellow Limited Partnership ("Partnership") Stores (Big Yellow ownership 33.3%)

Occupancy

Occupancy across the 12 stores grew by 62,000 sq ft in the quarter to 506,000 sq ft, representing 67.6% of their 749,000 sq ft total MLA at 30 June 2014.

This compares to 444,000 sq ft occupied (59.3% of MLA) at the same time last year and 444,000 (59.3% of MLA) sq ft occupied at 31 March 2014.

Rental yield

The net rent per sq ft of the 12 stores at 30 June 2014 was £18.15, an increase of 0.8% from £18.01 at 31 March 2014, and an increase of 5.3% from £17.24 at 30 June 2013. 

The 12 stores achieved an average net rent per sq ft over the quarter of £18.18, in line with the quarter to 31 March 2014 and up 5.4% from £17.25 for the same quarter last year.

Revenue and REVPAF

Total store revenue for the 12 stores was £2.6 million for the quarter

- Up 8% from £2.4 million for the quarter to 31 March 2014

- Up 18% from £2.2 million for the same quarter last year

Revenue per available foot ("REVPAF") was £13.88 for the quarter, an increase of 6.5% from £13.03 for the quarter ended 31 March 2014 and an increase of 17.8% from £11.78 for the quarter ended 30 June 2013.

10 Armadillo Stores (Big Yellow ownership 20%)

In April 2014 we acquired the Armadillo portfolio in a joint venture with an Australian consortium for a total price of £19.75 million. The Group invested £3.6 million representing an initial stake of 38% in the business. Our partners had a right to increase their share from 62% to 80%. They exercised this option on 8 July 2014 and the Group received £1.7 million (at par) for the shares. This reduced the Group's total investment to £1.9 million.

Occupancy

Occupancy across the ten stores grew by 17,000 sq ft in the quarter to 257,000 sq ft, representing 64.1% of their 401,000 sq ft total MLA at 30 June 2014.

This compares to 240,000 sq ft occupied (59.9% of MLA) at the same time last year and 240,000 (59.9% of MLA) sq ft occupied at 31 March 2014.

Rental yield

The net rent per sq ft of the ten stores at 30 June 2014 was £14.26, in line with 31 March 2014 and up 4.2% from £13.68 at 30 June 2013. 

The ten stores achieved an average net rent per sq ft over the quarter of £14.34, up 0.7% from £14.24 for the quarter to 31 March 2014 and up 5.4% from £13.60 for the same quarter last year.

Revenue and REVPAF

Total store revenue for the 10 stores was £1.07 million for the quarter

- Up 7% from £1.00 million for the quarter to 31 March 2014

- Up 11% from £960,000 for the same quarter last year

Revenue per available foot ("REVPAF") was £10.69 for the quarter, an increase of 6.2% from £10.07 for the quarter ended 31 March 2014 and an increase of 11.6% from £9.58 for the quarter ended 30 June 2013.

Acquisition

On 1 July 2014 we acquired a freehold store in Oxford from Fort Box Self Storage for a consideration of £4.1 million. The store will be rebranded as a Big Yellow, and has a current lettable area of 34,000 sq ft, with expansion space for a further 10,000 sq ft. Our existing 33,000 sq ft Oxford store is over 90% occupied and this acquisition will allow us to drive growth in occupancy and rental yield from our operating platform.

Store update

In April 2014 we opened our prominent 70,000 sq ft store at Gypsy Corner, West London, on the A40.

We have commenced construction of our 60,000 sq ft store at Enfield, North London, in a prominent location on the A10, Great Cambridge Road. The store will open in April 2015.

James Gibson, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"We continue to see improving demand and have delivered a solid performance in the quarter. We have grown occupancy in our like-for-like wholly owned stores by 3.2 percentage points over the quarter and by 4.3 percentage points in the last 12 months. Revenue has increased by 11% from the same quarter last year. 

The first quarter is historically our strongest quarter, but we would expect to deliver further occupancy gains in the second quarter.

The acquisition of the freehold Fort Box store in Oxford provides us well-needed additional space in that city and we are also looking forward to the opening of our new store in Enfield, North London next spring.

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

For further information, please contact:

Notes to Editors

Big Yellow Group PLC is the UK's brand leader in self storage. Big Yellow now operates from a platform of 78 stores, including 10 stores branded as Armadillo Self Storage. We own a further three Big Yellow self storage development sites, of which two have planning consent. Of the 81 total stores and sites, 91% are held freehold and long leasehold; with the remaining 9% short leasehold. The maximum lettable area of this platform is 4.7 million sq ft. When fully built out the portfolio will provide approximately 4.9 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 Big Yellow stores, coupled with our excellent customer service and our market leading online platform, has created the most recognised brand name in the UK self storage industry.