Big Yellow sees occupancy and revenue improve in first quarter

Self storage company Big Yellow Group posted a trading update for its first quarter to 30 June on Friday, reporting a 3% rise in its lettable area to 4.55m square feet.

The FTSE 250 firm had 3.55m square feet occupied at the end of the quarter, up 7% year-on-year, with an occupancy rate of 78%, up from 75.5% a year earlier.

Like-for-like occupancy improved by three percentage points to 78.5%.

Big Yellow’s revenue increased 10% over the same period last year too £26.4m, with like-for-like revenue increasing to £26m from £24.1m.

Average like-for-like net achieved rent per square foot was £25.99 during the period, up from £25.31.

“We make no attempt to forecast the longer term impact of the referendum result, however current performance in the group's stores is satisfactory in the circumstances,” said Big Yellow chief executive James Gibson.

“Big Yellow's financial strength, with interest cover of approximately 6.5 times should allow us to exploit any opportunities to acquire additional land or sites should they present themselves.”