Safestore Holdings: Revenue slips amid ‘challenging economic environment’
Safestore Holdings, the UK’s largest provider of self storage containers, saw revenue slip in the first quarter citing a “challenging economic environment.”
In an update, the FTSE 250 firm which operates in both Britain and Europe, said group revenue was down 0.7 per cent year-on-year to £55m.
Revenue per available foot, a metric of real estate health, was down 4.7 per cent to £26m.
Frederic Vecchioli, chief executive officer, said: “The good continental European performances, combined with a reduced seasonal outflow driving resilient UK trading in the context of challenging economic conditions, resulted in the group delivering like-for-like revenue marginally down 0.9 per cent on a CER basis.
“We continue to believe that the REVPAF delivered by the group is the strongest in the European industry.”
Safestore is the UK’s largest self-storage group with 181 stores.
Veccholi said: “We opened three new stores in the period in the UK and the Netherlands and our pipeline, at 1.4m sq ft, now represents 17 per cent of our existing portfolio’s MLA underpinning our future growth.
“We anticipate the pipeline will continue to grow further over the months ahead. Our balance sheet has significant funding capacity, allowing us to continue to consider and execute strategic, value-accretive investments as and when they arise.”