Total revenue for the period was up 10.5% to £88.1 million, with “like-for-like” growth for the group also up 8.3%, using constant exchange rate (CER). Same-store revenue grew 9.1% using CER. Profit before income tax was £167.3 million, up from £99.7 million during the same period in 2020.
We continue to focus on the significant upside from filling the 1.3 million square feet of fully invested currently unlet space in our U.K., Paris and Spain markets.”
Occupancy across the company’s portfolio was 82.3% at the end of the period, an increase of 10.8% percent. U.K. occupancy was 82.4%, an 11.8% percent bump from a year ago. Average rental rates across the portfolio were down 1%.
Safestore opened a 58,500-square-foot facility in Birmingham, England, and a 50,000-square-foot location in Paris. It also has several developments underway including three new facilities and two store expansions in London, five new builds in Barcelona and Madrid, Spain and another in Paris. Together, they’ll add 425,000 square feet of storage to the company’s portfolio.
A joint venture last year with global private-equity firm The Carlyle Group resulted in the acquisition of the three-store M3 Self Storage portfolio in the Netherlands, and a development site in Nijmegen, Netherlands, this month.
“I am pleased to report a very strong performance in the first six months of the year, with trading momentum accelerating in the second quarter driven by the strength of our U.K. performance combined with continued robust results from our French and Spanish businesses,” said CEO Frederic Vecchioli. “Our performance in this period has demonstrated the excellent operating leverage in our platform as we drive net lets and revenue. We continue to focus on the significant upside from filling the 1.3 million square feet of fully invested currently unlet space in our U.K., Paris and Spain markets.”
Safestore operates 176 self storage facilities in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. Its storage properties comprise nearly 7 million square feet of storage space and serve approximately 79,500 customers.
