Big Yellow lifts full year profits against slow economic growth

Full year pre-tax profits at storage company Big Yellow rose 7% to £112m against a backdrop of slower economic growth.

Like-for-like closing group occupancy rose 3.5 percentage points to 76.7% compared with 73.2% last year.

Average net achieved rent per square foot was £25.73, up from £25.10 although occupancy growth was slower, up by 185,000 square feet, compared with 267,000 square in 2015.

Revenue was up for year was up 20% to £101.4m. Adjusted profit before tax jumped to £49m from £39.4m.

The final dividend declared is 12.8p a share making a total of 24.9p a share, up 15% on last year.