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Final Results: 17/01/2023

 

Safestore Holdings plc
("Safestore", "the Company" or "the Group")

Results for the year ended 31 October 2022

A strong trading performance in a year of significant strategic progress and geographic expansion

 

Frederic Vecchioli, Chief Executive Officer commented:

"I am pleased to report another excellent year in which we delivered significant strategic progress, having enhanced our funding capacity, doubled our development pipeline to c.1.4m sq ft of MLA and extended our geographical footprint. The strong trading performance for the year is especially pleasing as it follows a record year in 2021. Our 2022 result was achieved through strong revenue growth in the UK market, good performances in our Parisian and Spanish businesses, and seven months' contribution from our Benelux business, which was acquired in March 2022.

Early trading in the new financial year shows broadly stable levels of demand compared to last year (but significantly ahead of pre-pandemic levels) with rates paid by new customers continuing to grow.

Over the last seven years, the Group has developed or acquired 68 stores and expanded into four new countries (Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and now Germany). In addition, our development pipeline of 29 new stores, extensions, and projects represents a further c.18% of our existing portfolio's MLA. Throughout this period of expansion, the Group has maintained its disciplined approach to return on capital.

In March 2022, the Group completed the acquisition of our partner Carlyle's 80% stake in our Benelux JV. Over the last three years we have learnt much about the Netherlands and Belgian markets and feel confident about the ongoing development of our presence in these attractive geographies. It is our intention to gradually increase our footprint in these two markets and our development pipeline now includes five stores and c.283,000 sq ft of MLA in the Netherlands.

Following this successful JV with Carlyle, we established a new German JV which has acquired the seven-store myStorage business. Germany is one of Europe's most under-penetrated self storage markets and I look forward to growing our presence there.

Our strong and flexible balance sheet has been significantly enhanced by the agreement of a new unsecured four-year £400 million multi-currency RCF which increases funding capacity, allowing us to continue to consider strategic, value-accretive investments as and when they arise.

We have delivered a strong occupancy performance over recent years and, after a significant level of acquisition and development activity over the last six years, we still have 1.4m sq ft of fully invested currently unlet space in our UK, Paris, Spain and Benelux markets in addition to 1.4m sq ft of pipeline space. Our most significant upside opportunity is from filling our existing unlet space and that remains our priority. The business has demonstrated its inherent resilience in recent times and, despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, we are confident in the future of the business.

The underlying fundamentals of the European self storage industry with limited supply, strong barriers to entry and a steadily growing product awareness are as strong as ever.  Over the last nine years, Safestore has delivered a market leading 18% CAGR of its adjusted diluted EPRA EPS. During that period, we have gradually expanded our geographical reach to six European countries leveraging and improving our platform and central functions while managing investment risk very carefully. I'm confident that Safestore will continue to play a leading role in the development of the self storage industry across Europe, delivering significant further value to its stakeholders.

None of this would be possible without the dedication and skills of our teams and I would like to thank all our colleagues in the UK, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium for their performance in 2022 as well as their commitment and loyalty. We are appreciative of their efforts."
 

Highlights

Strong Financial Performance

  • Group revenue for the year up 13.8% (up 14.3% in CER1)
  • Like-for-like8 Group revenue for the year in CER1 up 10.7%:
  • Underlying EBITDA2 up 15.1% in CER1 which, combined with an increased gain on investment properties of £381.6m (FY2021: £321.1m), resulted in statutory operating profit9 of £514.5m (FY2021: £417.0m)
  • Adjusted Diluted EPRA Earnings per Share6 up 17.3% at 47.5 pence (FY2021: 40.5 pence). Diluted Earnings per Share was 212.4 pence (FY2021: 176.4 pence) largely due to the higher property valuation gain in FY2022
  • 15.9% increase in the final dividend to 20.4 pence (FY2021: 17.6 pence) giving a total 18.7% increase for the year to 29.8 pence (FY2021: 25.1 pence)

 

Continued Operational Delivery

  • Continued balanced approach to revenue management together with an efficient marketing platform driving returns and record occupancy performance:
    • Like-for-like8 average storage rate5 for the year up 11.5% in CER1
    • Like-for-like8 average occupancy for the year up 0.7%
    • Like-for-like8 closing occupancy of 83.1% down 2.1ppts on 2021 (FY2021: 85.2%)
  • New and recently opened stores trading well and in line with business plans
  • Investment in our digital marketing platform continuing to deliver for the business:
    • Online enquiries in FY2022 rose to 90% of our total enquiries in the UK (FY2021: 89%) and 85% in France (FY2021: 84%)
    • Marketing cost as a percentage of revenue reduced to 3.6% (FY2021: 3.7%)

 

Strategic Progress

  • Store openings in London Bow, Barcelona and Nijmegen in the Netherlands added c.126,000 sq ft of MLA with a further two Madrid stores opened post year end in November 2022, adding a further 85,000 sq ft of MLA4.
  • Lease extensions signed in Exeter, London Crayford and Sunderland.
  • Five store extensions adding c.38,000 sq ft of MLA4 in London Paddington Marble Arch, Southend, London Edgware, London Wimbledon and Winchester
  • Acquired a 14,000 sq ft MLA4 freehold store in Christchurch10, Dorset, from Your Room Self Storage
  • Development pipeline expanded by c.0.7m sq ft of future MLA4 and eleven projects to c.1.4m sq ft and 29 projects (equivalent to c.18% of existing portfolio):
    • Eleven UK projects to add c.512,000 sq ft
    • Six developments in Barcelona and Madrid to add c.262,000 sq ft (an additional two developments opened since year-end, adding a further 85,000 sq ft)
    • Seven Paris projects to add c.349,000 sq ft
    • Five Netherlands sites to add c.283,000 sq ft
  • Completed EPS accretive acquisition of remaining 80% of equity owned by Carlyle in the Benelux JV14 in March 2022 at an Enterprise Value of €146m. The Benelux business now consists of 15 high quality stores with an MLA4 of 600,000 sq ft in the Netherlands and Belgium
  • Entry into German market via a new joint venture ("JV") with Carlyle which has acquired the seven-store myStorage business with 326,000 sq ft of MLA4

 

ESG

  • Continued development of Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") strategy:
    • Linkage of new £400m refinancing to ESG targets
    • Group commitment to be operationally carbon neutral by 2035
  • ESG progress illustrated by awards of:
    • GRESB "A" rating for public disclosures
    • EPRA Silver rating for sustainability
    • MSCI AA rating for ESG
    • Highest rating of five stars from Support The Goals

 

Strong and Flexible Balance Sheet

  • 30.9% increase in property valuation (including investment properties under construction) driven by improved trading performance, new stores, acquisitions, revisions to exit cap rates and stabilised occupancy assumptions
  • Revolving Credit Facilities (RCF's) refinanced with a new increased £400m unsecured multi-currency four-year facility (with two one-year extension options). Margins remain at 1.25% in line with previous RCF's and all facilities, including private placement notes, are now unsecured
  • Group loan-to-value ratio ("LTV"11) at 23.6%, calculated on net debt (31 October 2021: 22.7%) and interest cover ratio ("ICR"12) at 11.4x (31 October 2021: 10.5x)
  • In addition to strong free cash flow, significant financing in place to fund pipeline including unutilised bank facilities of £208.4m at October 2022 and no borrowings to refinance before May 2024. In addition, a further uncommitted £100m accordion facility incorporated into the new bank facilities
  • 93% of drawn debt at fixed rates or hedged at 31 October 2022

 

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For further information, please contact:

Safestore Holdings PLC     
Frederic Vecchioli, Chief Executive Officer    via Instinctif Partners
Andy Jones, Chief Financial Officer     
www.safestore.com

Instinctif Partners     
Guy Scarborough/ Bryn Woodward    07917 178920/ 07739 342009

 

 

Ends

Notes
We prepare our financial statements using IFRS. However, we also use a number of adjusted measures in assessing and managing the performance of the business. These measures are not defined under IFRS and they may not be directly comparable with other companies' adjusted measures and are not intended to be a substitute for, or superior to, any IFRS measures of performance. These include like-for-like figures to aid in the comparability of the underlying business as they exclude the impact on results of purchased, sold, opened or closed stores and constant exchange rate ("CER") figures are provided in order to present results on a more comparable basis, removing FX movements. These metrics have been disclosed because management reviews and monitors performance of the business on this basis. We have also included a number of measures defined by EPRA, which are designed to enhance transparency and comparability across the European Real Estate sector; see notes 6 and 13 below and "Non-GAAP financial information" in the notes to the financial statements.

1 - CER is Constant Exchange Rates (Euro denominated results for the current period have been retranslated at the exchange rate effective for the comparative period. Euro denominated results for the comparative period are translated at the exchange rates effective in that period. This is performed in order to present the reported results for the current period on a more comparable basis).
2 - Underlying EBITDA is defined as Operating Profit before exceptional items, share-based payments, corporate transaction costs, change in fair value of derivatives, gain/loss on investment properties, variable lease payments, depreciation and the share of associate's depreciation, interest and tax. Underlying EBITDA therefore excludes all leasehold rent charges. Underlying profit before tax is defined as Underlying EBITDA less leasehold rent, depreciation charged on property, plant and equipment and net finance charges relating to bank loans and cash.
3 - Occupancy excludes offices but includes bulk tenancy. As at 31 October 2022, closing occupancy includes 24,000 sq ft of bulk tenancy (31 October 2021: 14,000 sq ft).
4 - MLA is Maximum Lettable Area. At 31 October 2022, Group MLA was c.7.70m sq ft (FY2021: c.6.96m sq ft).
5 - Average Storage Rate is calculated as the revenue generated from self storage revenues divided by the average square footage occupied during the period in question.
6 - Adjusted Diluted EPRA EPS is based on the European Public Real Estate Association's definition of Earnings and is defined as profit or loss for the period after tax but excluding corporate transaction costs, change in fair value of derivatives, gain/loss on investment properties and the associated tax impacts. The Company then makes further adjustments for the impact of exceptional items, IFRS 2 share-based payment charges, exceptional tax items and deferred tax charges. This adjusted earnings is divided by the diluted number of shares. The IFRS 2 cost is excluded as it is written back to distributable reserves and is a non-cash item (with the exception of the associated National Insurance element). Therefore neither the Company's ability to distribute nor pay dividends is impacted (with the exception of the associated National Insurance element). The financial statements will disclose earnings on a statutory, EPRA and Adjusted Diluted EPRA basis and will provide a full reconciliation of the differences in the financial year in which any LTIP awards may vest.
7 - Free cash flow is defined as cash flow before investing and financing activities but after leasehold rent payments.
8 - Like-for-like adjustments remove the impact of the 2022 acquisition of the Netherlands and Belgium Joint Venture, the 2022 acquisition of Christchurch, the 2022 openings of Bow, Nijmegen (Netherlands) and Barcelona, the 2021 openings of Birmingham Middleway and Magenta in Paris and the 2021 closure of Birmingham South.
9 - Operating profit increased by £97.5 million to £514.5 million (FY2021: £417.0 million) principally as a result of an increase in the gain on investment properties of £60.5 million to £381.6 million (FY2021: £321.1 million), as well as an increase of £17.1 million or 14.5% in Underlying EBITDA as a result of stronger trading performance. Profit before income tax additionally included exceptional items of £10.8m, being other exceptional gains. This included £5.5m relating to the valuation gain of the 20% equity investment held in the Joint Venture with CERF, when the Group acquired the remaining 80% on 30 March 2022 and  £5.1m relating  to the net gain on disposal of the Paris Nanterre site in November 2021.
10 - The enterprise value paid for Your Room Self Storage in Christchurch, Dorset, on 7 December 2021 was £2.45 million.
11 - LTV ratio is Loan-to-Value ratio, which is defined as gross debt (excluding lease liabilities) as a proportion of the valuation of investment properties and investment properties under construction (excluding lease liabilities). At 31 October 2022, the Group LTV ratio was 24.4%. Under the new revolving credit facility, signed 11 November 2022, LTV is to be calculated against net debt which equates to an LTV of 23.6%.
12 - ICR is interest cover ratio, and is calculated as the ratio of Underlying EBITDA after leasehold rent to underlying finance charges.
13 - EPRA basic NAV was superseded and transitioned to three new measures: EPRA Net Reinstatement Value ("NRV"), EPRA Net Tangible Assets ("NTA") and EPRA Net Disposal Value ("NDV") for periods commencing 1 January 2020 or thereafter. Safestore considers EPRA NTA to be the most consistent with the nature of the Group's business. The basis of calculation, including a reconciliation to reported net assets, is set out in note 11 of the Financial Statements.
14 - On 30 March 2022, the Group acquired the remaining 80% of the Joint Venture with CERF. Prior to acquiring the 80%, the Joint Venture with CERF, which represented a 20% investment, was accounted for as an associate using the equity method of accounting, as described in the "Investment in associates" note to the financial statements..
15 - On 1 December 2022, the Group made an initial investment into a new joint venture with Carlyle, to enter the German self storage market, of c.€2.2 million for a 10% share. The Group will also earn a fee for providing management services to the joint venture.