Safestore (SAFE) delivered a robust performance in the year to October, with revenue up 10 per cent to £115m, thanks to a combination of new store openings and acquisitions. Headline profits were lower, but only as a result of a smaller upward revaluation in the property portfolio.
Five new stores were opened during the year, providing a maximum lettable area of 226,000 sq ft, and this month is expected to see the completion of an extension to the Longpont store in Paris which will add an additional 22,600 sq ft of space.
Safestore also paid £42.3m for the acquisition of 12 Space Maker stores which, together with the new stores, boosted the maximum lettable area by 13 per cent to 5.59m sq ft. Occupancy levels rose from 72.7 per cent to 73.7 per cent, which leaves plenty of potential for further low-cost growth on the 1.62m sq ft currently unoccupied. Chief executive Frederic Vecchioli estimates that around 90 per cent of revenue generated from unlet space would go straight through to profit.
Safestore has also developed its digital platform, so that online enquiries now represent 81 per cent of all enquiries in the UK and 63 per cent in France.
Broker Peel Hunt forecasts adjusted EPS of 21.6p for the year to October 2017 (from 19p in FY2016).
| SAFESTORE (SAFE) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 360.7p | MARKET VALUE: | £752.8m | |
| TOUCH: | 360.1-361.8p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 415p | LOW: 312p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.2% | DEVELOPMENT PROPERTIES: | £11m | |
| PREMIUM TO NAV: | 28% | NET DEBT: | 63% | |
| INVESTMENT PROPERTIES: | £943m | |||
| Year to 31 Oct | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 130 | -19.5 | -4.2 | 5.65 |
| 2013 | 210 | 48.6 | 57.8 | 5.75 |
| 2014 | 218 | 52.4 | 23.2 | 7.45 |
| 2015 | 236 | 118 | 52.4 | 9.65 |
| 2016 | 282 | 94.9 | 42.0 | 11.65 |
| % change | +19 | -20 | -20 | +21 |
Ex-div: 9 Mar Payment: 7 Apr | ||||
