Big Yellow Regulatory News (BYG)

14 January 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 third quarter ending 31 December 2013.

54 Wholly Owned Stores

Occupancy

In what is always a seasonally weaker quarter for the Group, the wholly owned stores fell in occupancy by 96,000 sq ft (2.8% of maximum lettable area "MLA") compared to a loss of 139,000 sq ft (4.1% of capacity) in the same quarter last year. Move-ins in the like-for-like wholly owned stores were up 14% on the quarter to 31 December 2012.

The closing occupancy across all stores was 2,315,000 sq ft, representing 67.7% of their 3,421,000 sq ft total capacity. This is an increase from 63.3% at the same time last year and down from 70.5% at 30 September 2013. 

The 32 established stores with a total MLA of 1,930,000 sq ft, and average MLA of 60,300 sq ft had occupancy of 1,427,000 sq ft (73.9% of MLA)

- Up 24,000 sq ft from 1,403,000 sq ft (72.7% of MLA) at 31 December 2012

- Down 61,000 sq ft from 1,488,000 sq ft (77.1% of MLA) at 30 September 2013

The 22 lease-up stores with a total MLA of 1,491,000 sq ft, and average MLA of 67,800 sq ft had occupancy of 888,000 sq ft (59.6% of capacity)

- Up 120,000 sq ft from 768,000 sq ft (51.5% of capacity) at 31 December 2012

- Down 35,000 sq ft from 923,000 sq ft (61.9% of capacity) at 30 September 2013

Rental yield

The net rent per sq ft of the 54 stores at 31 December 2013 was £25.73, an increase of 4.4% from £24.65 at 31 March 2013. The net rent of the 32 established stores at 31 December 2013 was £25.78, an increase of 4.3% from £24.72 at 31 March 2013.

The 54 stores achieved an average net rent per sq ft over the quarter of £25.61, compared to £25.43 for the same quarter last year. 

Revenue and REVPAF

Total store revenue for the 54 stores was £17.9 million for the quarter

- Up 6.5% from £16.8 million for the same quarter last year

- Down 2.7% from £18.4 million for the quarter to 30 September 2013

Store revenue excludes management fees and non-storage rental income of £0.4 million in the quarter (same quarter last year: £0.4 million, quarter to 30 September 2013: £0.4 million).

Like-for-like revenue per available foot ("REVPAF") was £20.78 for the quarter, an increase of 7.2% from £19.38 for the quarter ended 31 December 2012.

12 Big Yellow Limited Partnership ("Partnership") Stores

Occupancy

Occupancy across the 12 stores fell by 24,000 sq ft in the quarter to 429,000 sq ft across the twelve Partnership stores, representing 57.3% of their 749,000 sq ft total capacity at 31 December 2013.

This compares to 375,000 sq ft occupied (50.1% of MLA) at the same time last year and 453,000 sq ft (60.5% of MLA) at 30 September 2013.

Rental yield

The net rent per sq ft at 31 December 2013 for the 12 stores was £17.62, an increase of 5.4% from 31 March 2013.

The 12 stores achieved an average net rent per sq ft over the quarter of £17.60, compared to £17.31 for the same quarter last year. 

Revenue and REVPAF

Total store revenue for the 12 stores was £2.4 million for the quarter

- Up 20% from £2.0 million for the same quarter last year

- Down 4% from £2.5 million for the quarter to 30 September 2013

Revenue per available foot ("REVPAF") was £12.66 for the quarter, an increase of 17.1% from £10.81 for the quarter ended 31 December 2012 and a decrease of 5.5% from £13.39 for the quarter ended 30 September 2013.

Store update

We have completed the shell of our 70,000 sq ft store at Gypsy Corner, West London, in a prominent location on the A40, and have now started the internal fit out. The store will open in April 2014.

James Gibson, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"The loss of occupancy in the group this quarter is in the normal range of 2% to 3% (albeit at the higher end of the range) of MLA and an improvement on last year's 4.1%.

The growth in rental yield we reported at the interim stage has continued through this quarter, with net rent per sq ft increasing by 4.3% over the nine months. This occupancy and yield performance has resulted in a pleasing return to year on year revenue growth in the quarter of 6.5%.

We have previously articulated a more optimistic view on prospects for trading, and current performance would appear to bear that out, although we do expect improvements to be incremental.

Within our core market of London, we note the very significant number of large scale residential developments currently being announced on a daily basis. Although, not all these projects will get built, we suspect that the prospective increase in supply will dampen down house price inflation in the medium term. The corollary is that we might expect housing activity to increase, and we can imagine that this might not be unhelpful to Big Yellow.

We have had a positive start to January with a return to occupancy growth and an improving book of reservations. We look forward now to our seasonally busier period."

For further information, please contact:

Nicholas Vetch, Executive Chairman

James Gibson, Chief Executive Officer

John Trotman, Chief Financial Officer

Ben Foster

Rosie Oddy

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 and our market leading online platform, has created the most recognised brand name in the UK self storage industry.