Headline profits for Safestore (SAFE) were boosted by a much larger valuation uplift, reflecting acquisitions made during the year, but ignoring this still left operating profits ahead by 7 per cent for the year to October 2018.
Operating in the UK and Paris, the self-storage specialist delivered a marginal increase in storage rates, but occupancy rates rose strongly from 73.9 per cent to 76.6 per cent, and the subsequent increase in rental income, together with the valuation uplift, helped to push basic net asset value (NAV) ahead by more than a fifth.
Rental income was also boosted by a contribution from the 12 Alligator stores acquired in November 2017, while three new stores were opened during the year – two in London and one in Paris. In addition, there are four new stores in the pipeline that will add 210,000 square feet (sq ft) of new space. There is also significant value yet to be crystallised from currently unlet space amounting to 1.7m sq ft.
Analysts at Peel Hunt are forecasting adjusted NAV of 374.4p at the October 2019 year-end, up from 329p in 2018.
| SAFESTORE (SAFE) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 543p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.14bn | |
| TOUCH: | 543-544p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 585p | LOW: 465p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.0% | DEVELOPMENT STOCK: | £4.7m | |
| PREMIUM TO NAV: | 44% | NET DEBT: | 53% | |
| INVESTMENT PROPERTIES: | £1.22bn | |||
| Year to 31 Oct | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2014 | 218 | 52 | 23.2 | 7.45 |
| 2015 | 236 | 118 | 52.4 | 9.65 |
| 2016 | 282 | 95 | 42.0 | 11.65 |
| 2017 | 304 | 79 | 37.4 | 14 |
| 2018 | 376 | 185 | 84.4 | 16.25 |
| % change | +24 | +134 | +126 | +16 |
| Ex-div | 7 Mar | |||
| Payment: | 10 Apr |
