Self-storage specialist Big Yellow has surprised investors by reinstating its dividend, confident that a robust fourth-quarter will lead to improved occupancy at its 60 centres in London and the south east.
Full year revenues were flat at £58m, but an improvement of 5 per cent was registered in the traditionally weaker fourth quarter, reflecting improved take up . Overall same store occupancy is now 70 per cent - close to 2007 levels - and management hope to raise this to 85 per cent in the medium term, which would add 19p-a-share to earnings per share.
Of those customers taking space in the past year, 57 per cent are linked to house moves, 23 per cent to 'life events', 10 per cent to 'spare rooms', and 10 per cent from business customers. The latter makes up 20 per cent of the overall customer base, compared with 50 per cent at listed rival , but chief executive James Gibson stresses leasing space to domestic customers in London is more profitable.
Property values improved over the course of the year, but gains were wiped out by a £13m valuation loss on development sites.
Analyst KBC Peel Hunt expects adjusted NAV to rise from 453p to 487p by March 2011.
| BIG YELLOW (BYG) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 317p | MARKET VALUE: | £415m | |
| TOUCH: | 317-318p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 444p | LOW: 261p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.3% | TRADING STOCK: | nil | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 25% | |||
| INVEST PROPERTIES: | £762m | NET DEBT: | 54% | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 244 | 119 | 82.1 | 5.00 |
| 2007 | 428 | 153 | 193.0 | 9.00 |
| 2008 | 506 | 103 | 89.9 | 9.50 |
| 2009 | 438 | -71 | -62.9 | nil |
| 2010 | 424 | 10 | 8.1 | 4.00 |
| % change | -3 | - | - | - |
Ex-div: 9 Jun Payment: 14 Jul | ||||
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