Safestore 'looking to future with confidence' after solid first quarter results

Reporting its first quarter results, the company, which has sites in Oldbury, Quarry Bank and Wednesbury, said its revenue for the quarter, ending January 31, was £55.7 million.

That was compared to £50.9 million at the same time last year.

The business has secured two new sites in Ellesmere Port and in Central Barcelonaas well as acquiring a 58,000 sq ft existing storage facility in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands this year.

It also entered the German self-storage market via a Joint Venture with Carlyle, which has acquired the seven-store myStorage business.

Frederic Vecchioli, Chief Executive Officer of Safestore, said: "I am pleased to report that the solid early trading indicated in our January 2023 announcement has continued through to the end of our first quarter with the Group delivering like-for-like revenue growth of 4.2% and total revenue growth of 9.4% (3.4% and 8.4% respectively on a CER basis).

"We have opened two new stores in the period in Spain, acquired an existing operation in the Netherlands and added two stores in the UK and Spain to our pipeline which, at 1.5m sq ft, now represents 19% of our existing portfolio's MLA.

"We anticipate the pipeline will continue to grow over the coming months. Our strong and flexible, recently refinanced balance sheet has significant funding capacity, allowing us to continue to consider and execute strategic, value-accretive investments as and when they arise.

"Alongside our attractive development pipeline, we continue to prioritise the significant upside from filling our 1.8m square feet of fully invested, currently unlet space.

"The business has demonstrated its inherent resilience in recent times and we look to the future with confidence."