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UK self-storage provider Safestore reported a 1.1 per cent decline in average occupancy in the year to October 31 2024. The company also reported a 0.4 per cent decrease in the average storage rate to £30.3 per square foot and a 1.5 per cent decline in storage revenue to £184mn.
The trend continued in the first quarter of the company’s new financial year, with closing occupancy as a percentage of maximum lettable area falling by 2.8 percentage points to 71.5 per cent, while the average storage rate fell by another 1 per cent to just under £30. However, there was some improvement on a like-for-like basis, with the closing occupancy rate finishing 1.4 percentage points ahead of the same period last year.
If the current economic situation is temporary and consumer confidence rebounds, this blip in earnings could be just that. In which case, with a forward price/earnings multiple of 14 times, compared with a five-year average of 21 times, Safestore looks pretty cheap.
Chief executive Frederic Vecchioli appears to agree. He bought £738,000-worth of the stock at an average price of 547p between April 8 and 9.
