Safestore interims shake off the Brexit blues

Interim underlying profits at storage firm Safestore rose as the company shrugged off Brexit worries and occupancy rates rose.

Statutory pre-tax profit fell to £38.2m from £81.9m in 2018 driven by a reduced gain on investment properties. However, underlying earnings rose 5.9% to £41.4m, boosted by more lets in the UK and France.

Revenues were up 5.6% to £73.1m. An interim dividend of 5.5p per share was declared, up 7.8% year-on-year.

“Safestore's performance has been robust in the first half of the year and continues to build on the strong earnings and dividend growth achieved over the last five years,” said chief executive Frederic Vecchioli.

“The self-storage market remains resilient to macroeconomic uncertainty and we continue to capture growing levels of demand in the UK and in Paris, with double digit new let growth on a like-for-like basis on both markets.”

“In the context of uncertain economic conditions as the UK approaches Brexit, the industry remains well positioned with limited new supply coming into the self-storage market.”

The company said that it was continuing to progress sales and generate year on year like-for-like new lets growth at the start of the third quarter against a strong comparative in 2018.

“Safestore has a strong market presence in both the UK and Paris which continues to be strengthened by new store developments and acquisitions,” it added.