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• Big Yellow Group

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Date: Wednesday 09 Jul 2008

LONDON (ShareCast) - The slump in the UK housing market is hobbling growth in occupancy levels at self storage firm Big Yellow though the company is still growing revenues.

Revenue for the group’s first quarter, covering the three months to the end of June, rose 7% to £14.5m from £13.5m a year earlier, and was up 4% from the preceding quarter.

Excluding recently opened stores, revenue was up 3% from the corresponding quarter of 2007 and 4% higher than in the three months to end-March 2008.

The company’s 32 mature stores achieved rental rates of £26.19 per square feet, up 9% on a year earlier and 5% higher than in the preceding quarter.

Other storage related income, including sales of packing material and insurance, was unchanged from a year ago at £2m, and 5% higher than the level seen in the first three months of 2008.

Average occupancy across all stores in the quarter was 1.813m square feet, down from 1.822m square feet a year earlier, but up from 1.81m square feet in the preceding quarter.

The group has 22 sites lined up for development, of which 10 have planning permission, with a further five awaiting a decision on planning permission.

“Trading conditions continue to be challenging with total occupancy flat over the period,” said James Gibson, chief executive officer of the group.

“The 32 mature stores have achieved quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year revenue growth as a result of improved net achieved rents,” Gibson said, adding that Big Yellow has seen “satisfactory revenue and occupancy growth” in its lease-up portfolio.

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