Safestore Holdings plc

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

 

Frederic Vecchioli, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"We have delivered improved revenue performance in Q4, led by the UK, and have returned to growth overall for the financial year.

In the UK, we are encouraged by the continued improvements in domestic customer occupancy with increasingly positive levels of occupied space vs prior year through the second half of the year. However, business customer demand, particularly from smaller business customers, remains softer than in 2023.

We are pleased with the steady performance of our operations in Paris despite challenging economic trading conditions.

We have presented our other countries combined together as "Expansion markets" to reflect their importance in driving growth for the Group. These markets have once again delivered strong performance in the quarter both in like-for-like growth and in total revenue terms through the additional revenue from new stores.

We have continued the successful delivery of new space with seven developments and extensions adding 327,000 sq ft of MLA since the end of Q3.  In the financial year, we added 386,000 sq ft of MLA (equivalent to 5% of the start of year MLA) through new stores and extensions which are expected to significantly add to Group income as the stores mature.

Furthermore our development pipeline includes 26 additional stores with a projected total MLA of 1,338,200 sq ft, reflecting 16% of year end MLA, providing a clear pathway for further future revenue growth.

We maintain our guidance for full year Adjusted Diluted EPRA Earnings per Share, which are projected to be broadly in line with consensus forecasts⁷."

Highlights

• Q4 2024 revenue at CER grew 1.8% year on year excluding £0.6m of insurance premium tax ("IPT") relating to the sale of customer goods insurance in 2023 not repeated this year⁶
• On the same basis FY 2024 revenue grew 1.1% year on year after excluding £2.2 million of IPT
• Like-for-like Group revenue returned to growth in the quarter increasing 0.7% at CER
• Like-for-like closing occupancy at 78.8% broadly in line with prior year end
• Like-for-like average rate for the Group for the quarter and full year both broadly flat year on year at CER
• Opening of two new stores and extensions in the quarter with a further five opened following year end, adding a total of 327,000 sq ft of MLA. Development pipeline of an additional 26 stores with a total of 1.3m sq ft MLA, equivalent of 16% of the portfolio at year end
• Continued momentum in UK domestic demand in Q4 with year end occupied space 4.3% ahead of last year. Overall, UK occupancy broadly in line with prior year reflecting softer business customer demand
• Expansion markets⁸ (Spain, Netherlands and Belgium combined) delivered 29.0% growth year on year for FY 2024
• Diluted EPRA Earnings per Share for the full year expected to be broadly in line with consensus forecast⁷

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For further information, please contact:

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

Instinctif Partners     
Galyna Kulachek     020 7866 7850

Ends

Notes

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, in order to present the reported results on a more comparable basis)
2 - Occupancy excludes offices but includes bulk tenancy. As of 31 October 2024, closing occupancy includes 18,000 sq ft of bulk tenancy (31 October 2023:18,000 sq ft)
3 - MLA is Maximum Lettable Area measured in square feet ("sq ft")
4 - REVPAF is an alternative performance measure used by the business. REVPAF stands for Revenue per Available Square Foot and is calculated by dividing revenue for the period by weighted average available square feet for the same period
5 - Like-for-like information includes only those stores which have been open throughout both the current and prior financial years, with adjustments made to remove the impact of new and closed stores, as well as corporate transactions
6 - Store Protect replaced our customer goods insurance programme in the UK from 1 November 2023, attracting VAT rather than Insurance Premium Tax ("IPT"). The Q4 2024 YTD revenue includes £2.2 million representing 12% IPT on insurance sales for the nine months. The IPT in 2023 has been excluded from like-for-like figures to aid comparability
7 - Company compiled consensus of analysts, as at 12 November 2024, from 14 analysts reflecting range of 41.3p to 44.6p with a mean of 43.0p
8 - Expansion markets comprises Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium plus management fees earned in relation to the joint venture in Germany (previously shown in UK segment)
9 - Where reported amounts are presented either to the nearest £0.1m or to the nearest 10,000 sq ft, the underlying variance presented may be significantly different to the variance calculated on the rounded numbers