Safestore says it will pay final dividend as stores remain open

Self-storage company Safestore said on Thursday that it will pay its final dividend as its stores remain open despite the coronavirus outbreak.

Safestore said all of its stores in the UK, Paris, Barcelona and the Netherlands are currently open or accessible but the reception areas are closed, the staffing and opening hours have been cut and it has removed the provision of services that involve person-to-person contact. It also noted that access to its stores is mostly automated and the premises tend to have relatively low footfall.

The company said it intends to continue paying all of its employees' salaries as usual throughout the crisis.

"While Covid-19 continues to create uncertainty, we are monitoring developments daily to ensure we adhere to government advice in each of our geographies and continue to ensure the safety of our staff and customers," it said.

Since its last update on 18 March, Safestore said its key trading performance indicators continue to see a relatively limited impact, with 4.92 million square feet of occupied space across the portfolio, a reduction of 0.8% since its first quarter ended on 31 January.

The company said that following shareholder approval at the annual meeting last month, it will pay out the final dividend of 12p a share.

Safestore insisted it is "well-capitalised" and has a "strong" balance sheet. Following payment of the dividend, it will have undrawn debt facilities of around £151m.

The group also said that given recent volatility in the sterling/euro exchange rate, it has taken out average rate FX forward contracts to hedge the majority of its exposure to the translation of euro-denominated earnings for the next three years.