Safestore hikes dividend as demand for storage remains strong

Revenue in the year to end-October rose 10.1% to £115.4m for the FTSE 250 storage provider, with group like-for-like revenue up 8.1% at constant exchange rates.

Within this, the UK rose 9.2% and Paris increased 5.0% as group average occupancy rose 3.5%, with pricing up 4.5% in the UK and 2.3% in Paris.

Tight cost control was a focus, with the newly launched customer website helping cut the average cost per enquiry.

This contributed to a 19.3% expansion of earnings per to 19.8p, with free cash flow swelling almost 14% to £42.4m, the board hiked the final dividend 21% to 8.05p to lift the total by almost 21% to 11.65p.

"As we enter the new financial year, we continue to see good levels of interest in self-storage and remain focused on the significant opportunity represented by our 1.62m square feet of currently unlet space," said chief executive Frederic Vecchioli.

"In addition, our balance sheet capacity and flexibility allows us to continue to seek selected development and acquisition opportunities. The company is in a strong position and we look forward to the future with confidence."

With management continuing to see good levels of interest in self storage, previous guidance has been reiterated for 2-4 percentage points of occupancy growth and 2-4% rate growth in London and 1-3ppt occupancy growth and 1-3% rate growth in Paris and the UK regions.

Since the year end, Safestore secured a new 54,000 sq ft development site in Mitcham, London.