Big Yellow (BYG) focused on driving occupancy rates higher in the six months to September 2017, working on the principle that there is little point in carrying significant unutilised self-storage capacity. The drive to sell space lifted occupancy rates from 78.5 per cent to 83.8 per cent and, while the second half of the year is historically weaker than the first, occupancy rates are expected to exceed 85 per cent by next summer. The business target has therefore been lifted to 90 per cent.
The drive to push occupancy higher came at the expense of rental growth, which came in at just 1.6 per cent from the March year-end. Still, this and a £47m valuation uplift on the portfolio pushed adjusted net asset value (NAV) ahead by 8 per cent to 640.8p from a year earlier.
Three development sites were acquired during the first half, increasing the pipeline to a total capacity of around 575,000 sq ft, equivalent to 13 per cent of the current maximum lettable area.
Analysts at broker Peel Hunt expect to upgrade their forecasts for the year to March 2018, but currently expect adjusted NAV at that time of 615.2p a share, up from 607.6p a year earlier.
| BIG YELLOW (BYG) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 772.5p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.22bn | |
| TOUCH: | 772-773p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 830p | LOW: 630p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.8% | DEVELOPMENT PROP: | £49m | |
| PREMIUM TO NAV: | 28% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROP: | £1.2bn | NET DEBT: | 32% | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2016 | 554 | 57.7 | 36.7 | 13.5 |
| 2017 | 603 | 78.7 | 50.0 | 15.3 |
| % change | +9 | +36 | +36 | +13 |
| Ex-div: | 07 Dec | |||
| Payment: | 05 Jan |
