REG - Safestore Hldgs plc - Interim Results
Tue 07:00
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RNS Number : 0982M Safestore Holdings plc 10 June 2025
10 June 2025
Safestore Holdings plc
("Safestore", "the Company" or "the Group")
Interim results for the half year ended 30 April 2025
Continued improvement in UK trading and strong growth in Expansion Markets
Strong foundations for further shareholder value creation
Key measures H1 2025 H1 2024 Change(1) Change(CER)(2) FY 2024
Underlying and Operating Metrics - total
Revenue (£'m) 112.8 109.2 3.3% 4.0% 223.4
Underlying EBITDA (£'m)(3) 66.1 67.1 (1.5%) (1.0%) 135.4
Closing Occupancy (let sq ft - million)(4) 6.38 6.13 4.1% 6.4
Closing Occupancy (% of CLA) 74.4% 76.2% (1.8ppt) 74.6%
Current Lettable Area ("CLA") (5) 8.58 8.05 6.6%
Maximum Lettable Area ("MLA")(6) 9.14 8.23 11.1% 8.59
Average Storage Rate (£ / sq ft)(7) 29.98 30.16 (0.6%) 0.2% 29.85
REVPAF (£ / sq ft)(8) 26.78 27.64 (3.1%) (2.4%) 26.69
Adjusted Diluted EPRA Earnings per Share (pence)(9) 19.0 21.2 (10.4%) 42.3
Free Cash flow (£'m)(10) 36.1 41.0 (12.0%) 86.2
EPRA Basic NTA per Share (pence)(11) 1,117 1,003 11.3% 1,091
Underlying and Operating Metrics - like-for-like(12)
Revenue (£'m) 111.5 108.5 2.8%
Storage Revenue (£'m) 94.0 91.7 2.5%
Ancillary Revenue (£'m) 17.5 16.8 4.2%
Underlying EBITDA (£'m) 66.2 66.8 (0.9%)
Closing Occupancy (let sq ft - million) 6.21 6.12 1.5%
Closing Occupancy (% of CLA) 78.2% 77.6% 0.6ppt
Average Occupancy (let sq ft - million) 6.22 6.10 2.0%
Average Storage Rate (£ / sq ft) 30.40 30.17 0.8%
REVPAF (£ / sq ft) 28.30 27.67 2.3%
Statutory Metrics
Operating Profit (£'m) 112.9 186.3 (39.4%) 425.8
Profit before Tax (£'m) 97.0 173.7 (44.2%) 398.6
Diluted Earnings per Share (pence) 36.1 71.5 (49.5%) 170.1
Dividend per Share (pence) 10.1 10.0 1.0% 30.4
Net Cash Flow from Operating Activities (£'m) 41.2 45.4 (9.3%) 95.9
Basic net assets per share (pence) 1,038 935 11.0% 1,020
HIGHLIGHTS
Resilient financial performance
· Group revenue at constant exchange rates (CER) +4.0%; Group
like-for-like (LFL) revenue of £111.5 million +2.8% driven by:
· +1.6% LFL in UK, +0.8% LFL in Paris and +17.0% LFL in Expansion
Markets(13)
· Performance in UK improved month-on-month during H1 2025
· Group underlying EBITDA of £66.1 million, -1.0% at CER
· LFL store EBITDA increased £1.1 million to £75.4 million
reflecting revenue growth partially offset by inflationary increases in store
staff costs and UK business rates
· Non-LFL store EBITDA fell £0.5 million to (£0.2) million due to
expected profile of revenue and costs on newly opened stores
· Administrative costs increased 25% or £1.9 million due to
normalisation of head office staff incentives and write-off of preliminary
costs for discontinued development projects
· Interest expense up £3.3 million YoY to £13.0 million due to
increased borrowings to finance continued expansion of asset base less savings
from active debt management
· Group underlying Profit before tax ("PBT") and EPRA EPS declined
11.0% to £43.6 million and 10.4% to 19.0 pence
· Balance sheet remains strong
· Strong operating cash flows; £36.1 million H1 2025 (H1 2024:
£41.0 million) of free cash flow before capex on new store development of
£58.0 million and the EasyBox JV investment of £36.8 million
· Net debt £1,010.5 million (H1 2024: £862.7 million); increased
proportion of Euro denominated debt, leading to closing cost of debt falling
from 4.0% to 3.6%
· Group loan-to-value ratio ("LTV"(14)) at 27.4% (H1 2024: 25.7%)
and interest cover ratio ("ICR"(15)) at 3.9x (H1 2024: 5.0x)
· Good strategic and operational progress
· Encouraging growth in Group LFL REVPAF, average rate and
occupancy in the half. UK revenue growth led by domestic consumer demand.
· Growth in maximum lettable area (MLA) +11.1% YoY to 9.1m sq ft.
Opened 10 new stores and 1 extension in H1 2025 (adding 531,000 sq ft since FY
2024)
· Entered into a JV with Nuveen to acquire the EasyBox self-storage
in Italy. EasyBox owns 11 stores with 1 in development, a total of 780,000 sq
ft. This follows the Group strategy of entering high-potential markets with
low levels of supply alongside partners. Safestore will operate the stores,
leveraging our capabilities and existing platform.
· Outlook and Guidance
· The Board remains comfortable with FY 2025 expectations, with
underlying LFL costs and interest charge to be at lower end of previous
guidance;
· Underlying LFL operating costs +7-8% on FY 2024
· Interest charge £5-£6 million higher
· Q3 early trading trends consistent with H1 performance
· Development pipeline and recently opened (non-LFL) stores on
track to deliver incremental EBITDA of £35-£40 million on stabilisation
· H2 2025: 4 new stores opening, adding 201,300 sq ft
· FY 2026 and beyond: 16 new stores, expected to add 877,600 sq ft
Frederic Vecchioli, Safestore's Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"Our teams have worked hard to drive a robust first half performance while
investing in the future growth pipeline. UK revenue growth continues to be led
by domestic customer demand, with improvements in both occupancy and rate in
the half. Trading performance in Paris has remained steady and our Expansion
Markets in Europe continue to grow strongly. These trends have continued into
the early weeks of the second half, and we are cautiously optimistic about the
trading outlook.
Safestore in the UK is facing well documented inflationary cost headwinds, but
we have identified cost savings which will help mitigate some of the impact of
these in the full year and into next year.
Our LFL stores remain highly cash generative and it is pleasing to the see the
continued top-line growth from our portfolio. This gives us confidence as we
continue to invest in our new store pipeline. The investment is, as expected,
dampening profit growth in the short term as we bear the extra costs of
immature stores and interest on the additional borrowings funding our
pipeline. Our development programme represents 19% of our FY 2024 closing MLA
and is expected to be highly accretive to the Group on stabilisation. Together
with new stores opened in the last 18 months, this pipeline has the potential
to deliver an incremental £35-£40 million of annual EBITDA.
Finally, I would like to thank all of our colleagues across our stores and
head office whose commitment, hard work and customer-centric approach have
been instrumental in driving our progress."
Notes
We prepare our financial statements using IFRS. However, we also use a number
of adjusted measures in assessing and managing the performance of the
business. These measures are not defined under IFRS and they may not be
directly comparable with other companies' adjusted measures and are not
intended to be a substitute for, or superior to, any IFRS measures of
performance. These include like-for-like figures, to aid in the comparability
of the underlying business as they exclude the impact on results of purchased,
sold, opened or closed stores; and constant exchange rate ("CER") figures are
provided in order to present results on a more comparable basis, removing FX
movements. These metrics have been disclosed because management review and
monitor performance of the business on this basis. We have also included a
number of measures defined by EPRA, which are designed to enhance transparency
and comparability across the European Real Estate sector; see notes 9 and 11
below and 'Non-GAAP financial information' in the notes to the financial
statements.
1 - Where reported amounts are presented either to the nearest £0.1 million
or to the nearest 10,000 sq ft, the effect of rounding may impact the reported
percentage change.
2 - CER is Constant Exchange Rate (Euro denominated results for the current
period have been retranslated at the exchange rate effective for the
comparative period. Euro denominated results for the comparative period are
translated at the exchange rates effective in that period. This is performed
in order to present the reported results for the current period on a more
comparable basis).
3 - Underlying EBITDA is defined as Operating Profit before exceptional items,
share-based payments, corporate transaction costs, change in fair value of
derivatives, gain/loss on investment properties, variable lease payments,
depreciation and the share of associate's depreciation, interest and tax.
Underlying EBITDA therefore excludes all leasehold rent charges. Underlying
profit before tax is defined as underlying EBITDA less leasehold rent,
depreciation charged on property, plant and equipment and net finance charges
relating to bank loans and cash.
4 - Occupancy excludes offices but includes bulk tenancy.
5 - CLA is Current Lettable Area excludes space not yet fitted out and space
which is operationally unavailable from MLA. Measured in square feet ("sq
ft").
6 - MLA is Maximum Lettable Area. Measured in square feet ("sq ft").
7 - Average Storage Rate is calculated as the revenue generated from
self-storage divided by the average square footage occupied during the period
in question.
8 - Revenue per Available Square Foot ("REVPAF") is an alternate performance
measure used by the business and is considered by management as the best KPI
of economic performance of a mature self-storage asset as it is the net
outcome of the occupancy/rate mix plus ancillary sales. It is calculated by
dividing revenue for the period by weighted average available square feet for
the same period.
9 - Adjusted Diluted EPRA EPS is based on the European Public Real Estate
Association's definition of Earnings and is defined as profit or loss for the
period after tax but excluding corporate transaction costs, change in fair
value of derivatives, gain/loss on investment properties and the associated
tax impacts. The Company then makes further adjustments for the impact of
exceptional items, IFRS 2 share-based payment charges, exceptional tax items,
and deferred tax charges. This adjusted earnings is divided by the diluted
number of shares. The IFRS 2 cost is excluded as it is written back to
distributable reserves and is a non-cash item (with the exception of the
associated National Insurance element). Therefore, neither the Company's
ability to distribute nor pay dividends are impacted (with the exception of
the associated National Insurance element). The financial statements will
disclose earnings on a statutory, EPRA and Adjusted Diluted EPRA basis and
will provide a full reconciliation of the differences in the financial year in
which any LTIP awards may vest.
10 - Free cash flow is defined as cash flow before investing and financing
activities but after leasehold rent payments.
11 - EPRA's Best Practices Recommendations guidelines for Net Asset Value
("NAV") metrics are EPRA Net Tangible Assets ("NTA"), EPRA Net Reinstatement
Value ("NRV") and EPRA Net Disposal Value ("NDV"). EPRA NTA is considered to
be the most relevant measure for the Group's business which provides
sustainable long term progressive returns and is now the primary measure of
net assets. The basis of calculation, including a reconciliation to reported
net assets, is set out in note 15.
12 - Like‐for‐like ("LFL") information includes only those stores which
have been open throughout both the current and prior financial years, with
adjustments made to remove the impact of new and closed stores, as well as
corporate transactions.
13 - Expansion Markets comprise Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium plus income
earned in relation to the associate in Germany (previously shown in the UK
segment) and the joint venture in Italy. Results for the UK segment for H1
2024 have been re-presented with the inclusion of transactions between the
Group and the German associate being included in Expansion Markets. The impact
is to lower Revenue by £0.3 million, Profit before tax by £0.3 million and
Total assets by £0.3 million within the UK segment and increase it by the
same amounts in the Expansion Markets segment.
14 - LTV ratio is Loan-to-Value ratio, which is defined as net debt (excluding
lease liabilities) as a proportion of the valuation of investment properties
and investment properties under construction (excluding lease liabilities).
15 - ICR is interest cover ratio and is calculated as the ratio of underlying
EBITDA after leasehold rent to underlying finance charges.
Reconciliations between underlying metrics and statutory metrics can be found
in the financial review and financial statements sections of this
announcement.
Financial and operational summary
Group
The Group has delivered encouraging performance in H1 2025 in challenging
market conditions, particularly in the UK and Paris, whilst continuing to make
good progress with our strategic priorities including our ongoing development
programme.
The Group's reported revenue increased by 3.3% or £3.6 million to £112.8
million during the half year at actual exchange rates, growing 4.0% at
constant exchange rates.
Group like-for-like ("LFL") revenue at CER grew 2.8% to £111.5 million with
increases in both closing occupancy of 78.2% and an average rate of £30.40
(at CER) for the Group grew 0.8% on a LFL basis. We saw growth across all of
our markets with UK LFL revenue increasing 1.6%, Paris 0.8% and Expansion
Markets 17.0%. In addition, non-LFL stores contributed a further £1.5 million
of revenue growth on H1 2024.
Group Underlying EBITDA of £66.1 million decreased by £1.0 million or 1.5%
year on year, 1.0% on a CER basis. This was driven by a 5.2% increase in LFL
cost of sales, principally due to increased employee remuneration costs
(particularly higher National Living Wage levels) and increased business rates
in the UK, and an increase in administrative costs for the Group reflecting
normalisation of head office staff incentives and the write-off of preliminary
costs from discontinued development projects.
Interest expense increased year on year as a result of additional borrowings
to fund our development programme partially offset by savings from switching
GBP borrowings into EUR. Coupled with the decrease in Underlying EBITDA, the
increase in finance costs of £3.3 million led to an 10.4% year on year
decrease in Adjusted Diluted EPRA earnings to 19.0 pence.
Statutory operating profit decreased by 39.4% to £112.9 million (H1 2024:
£186.3 million) as a result of a lower gain from investment properties
revaluation (H1 2025: £49.5 million; H1 2024: £121.7 million).
Investment Property value increased by £128.9 million, taking the value of
the portfolio to £3,413.0 million. The increase included £58.9 million of
capital expenditure in the half and the balance was the property value uplift
driven by delivery of our store pipeline. The rise in valuation demonstrates
our ability to create value through developing our property assets and the
prices we pay for them.
The business remains in a strong position with robust cash generation
alongside improving trading, and the Board is pleased to recommend a 1%
increase in the interim dividend of 10.1 pence per share (FY 2024: 10.0 pence
per share) in line with our progressive policy.
Development pipeline
The Group delivered ten new stores through developments and one extension
during the half year. At the end of April 2025, we have a pipeline of 20 new
stores to open in H2 2025 and beyond.
The Group's pipeline of new developments and store extensions was projected to
add 1.6 million sq ft of MLA, 19% of the existing portfolio as at the start of
FY 2025. The developments are focused in the key cities of London (nine
stores, 517,300 sq ft), Paris (eight stores and one extension, 458,600 sq ft),
Madrid and Barcelona (five stores, 205,200 sq ft), Brussels (one store, 47,400
sq ft) and other regional cities (seven stores, 382,000 sq ft).
With 531,300 sq ft of MLA added in H1 2025 and 201,600 sq ft to be completed
in the second half, 45% of this pipeline will be delivered in FY 2025. In FY
2026 we are on track to add 472,300 sq ft and 405,300 sq ft is planned for the
financial years beyond FY2026. The outstanding capital expenditure of
£116.0 million for this pipeline is expected to be funded from a combination
of the Group's operating cash flow and existing debt resources of which £44
million will be spent in FY 2025 and £48 million in FY 2026.
The pipeline, together with non-LFL stores, is projected to add £35-£40
million of EBITDA on stabilisation but is expected to be dilutive to EPS in FY
2025 due to additional interest costs and expected customer move-in
trajectories.
UK
Our operational performance across the UK (65% of current MLA) has continued
its improving trajectory with revenue up 2.3% to £81.2 million year on year,
1.6% to £80.1 million on a LFL basis.
This resulted from a broadly stable LFL average rental rate of £30.37 (0.1%
increase on H1 2024 at £30.33) together with an increase in LFL closing
occupancy of 0.9 ppt to 78.0%.
This LFL occupancy position reflects healthy domestic demand with occupied
space increasing 6.6% year on year, ahead of the rate in decline in business
customers of 5.9%. We expect that space occupied by business customers will
continue to decline as we convert larger units (>250 sq ft) into smaller
ones and we have made good progress on this with 93,000 sq ft converted in the
first half.
New stores and developments contributed £1.1 million of non-LFL revenue in
the half.
The LFL cost base in the UK increased by £3.9 million year on year due to
market wide inflationary increases in store employment costs, business rates
and facilities costs.
As a result, underlying EBITDA for the UK business was £47.1 million (H1
2024: £50.1 million), a decrease of £3.0 million or 6.0%.
Paris
In Paris (17% of current MLA), total revenue grew 1.6% on the prior year to
€25.5 million and LFL revenue grew 0.8% to €25.3 million reflecting a
robust performance in continued challenging market conditions.
The growth on prior year was driven by improving rental rates which increased
to €42.58 for the year, an increase of 1.9% on H1 2024 (€41.78) offset by
lower average occupancy for the year, both on a LFL basis.
REVPAF, which we believe is materially ahead of the local competition,
decreased by 1.7% against prior half year as additional space has been fitted
out and made available.
Underlying EBITDA at €16.7 million, increased by 6.4% against H1 2024 with
cost of sales and administrative costs combined decreasing by €0.6 million
or 6.3%.
Expansion Markets
Overall Expansion Markets delivered 17.0% LFL revenue growth to €11.0
million in H1 2025 with positive momentum in all markets. Total revenue,
including the benefit of new stores, increased 28.4% year on year to €12.2
million.
In Spain LFL revenue grew 28.6% year on year, driven by improvement in
occupancy (closing at 62.0% versus H1 2024 at 56.0%) and rental rates growing
by 4.0%. In the Netherlands, LFL revenue growth was 10.0% driven by increased
rental rates and closing occupancy 3.7% higher than H1 2024. LFL revenue in
Belgium grew 13.0% year on year driven by increased rental rates.
New stores and expansions contributed an additional €1.1 million in non-LFL
revenue in the half year, largely through openings in Spain.
Underlying EBITDA of €6.3 million (H1 2024: €4.2 million) increased 50%.
The increase in revenue was partially offset by an increase in the underlying
cost of sales of €1.4 million for the newly opened stores.
Safestore has one associate in Germany with Carlyle, which has seven stores
totalling 327,000sq ft of MLA, and one joint venture formed in H1 2025 with
Nuveen Real Estate. This new 50/50 JV owns EasyBox, a leading platform in the
emerging Italian storage market with a strong trading track record, acquired
for €175 million. EasyBox comprises eleven stores with a total MLA of
733,000 sq ft, with one in development, in the key economic centres of Italy.
Safestore will manage the business on behalf of the joint venture, leveraging
Group expertise. In Italy, the supply of self-storage per inhabitant is
equivalent to 3% of that of the UK. We believe the investment will provide the
initial critical size of operations as well as 20 years of marketing and
trading data points that will be key to inform potential further opportunities
over time.
Outlook
We remain focused on further optimising the Group's operational performance
and continuing to grow in all our geographies.
Trading in the second half has to date seen a continuation of the solid trends
in H1 2025, with UK LFL closing occupancy for May 2025 at 79.1%, up 0.5ppt
year on year, supported by robust levels of enquiries. We have identified cost
saving measures that will help limit operating cost increases to the lower end
of our previously projected range (a 7%-8% increase on a LFL basis). In
addition, we have converted €150 million of our borrowings from GBP to EUR,
lowering our average cost of debt; accordingly, the increase in interest costs
in FY 2025 is now projected to be (£5-£6 million higher YoY vs FY 2024).
We expect our development programme together with its associated financing to
be dilutive to earnings growth in FY 2025 and FY 2026 before becoming highly
accretive to the Group in future years as the stores stabilise. We believe
that, on stabilisation, an incremental £35-£40 million of EBITDA will be
added by the pipeline together with the stores opened in the last eighteen
months.
In addition to our existing pipeline, our capital flexibility provides the
opportunity to consider further selective development and acquisition
opportunities across all of our markets, either self-funded or within joint
ventures.
Trading performance
Trading Data - Total
Revenue (millions) H1 2025 H1 2024 Change
Group (GBP) £112.8 £109.2 3.3%
UK (GBP) £81.2 £79.4 2.3%
Paris (EUR) €25.5 €25.1 1.6%
Expansion Markets (EUR) €12.2 €9.5 28.4%
Average Rate (per sq ft) H1 2025 H1 2024 Change
Group (GBP) £29.98 £30.16 (0.6%)
UK (GBP) £30.36 £30.34 0.1%
Paris (EUR) €42.24 €41.78 1.1%
Expansion Markets (EUR) €24.43 €23.04 6.0%
REVPAF (per sq ft) H1 2025 H1 2024 Change
Group (GBP) £26.78 £27.64 (3.1%)
UK (GBP) £28.44 £28.50 (0.2%)
Paris (EUR) €37.16 €39.00 (4.7%)
Expansion Markets (EUR) €18.25 €18.25 0.0%
Closing Occupancy (million sq ft) H1 2025 H1 2024 Change
Group 6.38 6.13 4.1%
UK 4.44 4.32 2.8%
Paris 1.12 1.10 1.8%
Expansion Markets 0.82 0.71 15.5%
Closing Occupancy (% of CLA) H1 2025 H1 2024 Change
Group 74.4% 76.2% (1.8ppt)
UK 77.0% 76.9% 0.1ppt
Paris 79.2% 85.2% (6.0ppt)
Expansion Markets 58.6% 62.1% (3.5ppt)
MLA (million sq ft) H1 2025 H1 2024 Change
Group 9.14 8.23 11.1%
UK 5.99 5.82 2.9%
Paris 1.56 1.36 14.7%
Expansion Markets 1.59 1.05 51.4%
CLA (million sq ft) H1 H1 Change
2025 2024
Group 8.58 8.05 6.6%
UK 5.76 5.61 2.7%
Paris 1.41 1.30 8.5%
Expansion Markets 1.41 1.14 23.7%
Trading Data - Like-For-Like
Revenue (millions) H1 2025 H1 2024 Change
Group (GBP at CER(1)) £111.5 £108.5 2.8%
UK (GBP) £80.1 £78.8 1.6%
Paris (EUR) €25.3 €25.1 0.8%
Expansion Markets (EUR) €11.0 €9.4 17.0%
Average Rate (per sq ft) H1 2025 H1 2024 Change
Group (GBP at CER) £30.40 £30.17 0.8%
UK (GBP) £30.37 £30.33 0.1%
Paris (EUR) €42.58 €41.78 1.9%
Expansion Markets (EUR) €25.01 €23.08 8.4%
REVPAF (per sq ft) H1 2025 H1 2024 Change
Group (GBP at CER) £28.30 £27.67 2.3%
UK (GBP) £28.80 £28.33 1.7%
Paris (EUR) €38.34 €39.00 (1.7%)
Expansion Markets (EUR) €22.44 €18.99 18.2%
Closing Occupancy (million sq ft) H1 2025 H1 2024 Change
Group 6.21 6.12 1.5%
UK 4.37 4.32 1.2%
Paris 1.10 1.10 -
Expansion Markets 0.74 0.70 5.7%
Closing Occupancy (% of CLA) H1 2025 H1 2024 Change
Group 78.2% 77.6% 0.6ppt
UK 78.0% 77.1% 0.9ppt
Paris 82.1% 85.2% (3.1ppt)
Expansion Markets 73.7% 70.2% 3.5ppt
MLA (million sq ft) H1 2025 H1 2024 Change
Group 8.24 8.21 0.4%
UK 5.79 5.80 (0.2%)
Paris 1.40 1.36 2.9%
Expansion Markets 1.05 1.05 0.0%
CLA (million sq ft) H1 2025 H1 2024 Change
Group 7.94 7.89 0.6%
UK 5.60 5.60 0.0%
Paris 1.33 1.30 2.3%
Expansion Markets 1.01 0.99 2.0%
CLA and MLA
As we develop new assets, we normally build out internal fittings in phases
spread over a number of years after the initial store opening, enabling
efficient capital deployment and optimisation of unit mix based on actual
local demand. If we exclude this unavailable space, we have CLA of 8.6m sq ft
as at 30 April 2025. As a result, Occupancy as a % of CLA at the half year was
74.4% (HY 2024: 76.2%).
MLA To be Built Out Operationally unavailable CLA % Occupancy of MLA % Occupancy of CLA
UK 6.0 (0.1) (0.1) 5.8 74.2% 77.0%
Paris 1.6 (0.2) (0.0) 1.4 71.6% 79.2%
Expansion Markets 1.6 (0.2) (0.0) 1.4 51.8% 58.6%
Total 9.2 (0.5) (0.1) 8.6 69.8% 74.4%
Notes to Editors
For further information, please contact:
Safestore Holdings PLC
Frederic Vecchioli, Chief Executive Officer 020 8732 1500
Simon Clinton, Chief Financial Officer www.safestore.com (http://www.safestore.com)
Instinctif Partners
Galyna Kulachek 020 7457 2020
Tim Pearson Safestore@Instinctif.com (mailto:Safestore@Instinctif.com)
Analyst and investor presentation
An analyst and investor presentation will be held at 9:30am GMT today, 10 June
2025.
To register for the live webcast, please email Safestore@Instinctif.com
(mailto:Safestore@Instinctif.com)
· Safestore is the UK's largest self-storage group with 209 stores
on 30 April 2025; comprising 139 in the UK (including 78 in London and the
South East with the remainder in key metropolitan areas such as Manchester,
Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle, and
Bristol), 32 in the Paris region, 16 in Spain, 16 in the Netherlands and 6 in
Belgium. In addition, the Group operates 7 stores in Germany under a Joint
Venture agreement with Carlyle and 11 stores (One under development) in Italy
under a Joint Venture agreement with Nuveen.
· Safestore operates more self-storage sites inside the M25 and in
central Paris than any competitor providing more proximity to customers in the
wealthiest and more densely populated UK and French mark6ets.
· Safestore was founded in the UK in 1998. It acquired the French
business "Une Pièce en Plus" ("UPP") in 2004 which was founded in 1998 by the
current Safestore Group CEO Frederic Vecchioli.
· Safestore has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since
2007. It entered the FTSE 250 index in October 2015.
· The Group provides storage to around 98,000 personal and business
customers.
· As of 30 April 2025, Safestore had a maximum lettable area
("MLA") of 9.14 million sq ft (excluding the expansion pipeline stores) of
which 6.38 million sq ft was occupied.
· Safestore employs around 800 people in the Group.
Development Pipeline
The Group's pipeline of new developments and store extensions (see below) at
the start of the year was projected to add 1.6 million sq ft of MLA, the
equivalent to 19% of the existing portfolio as at the start of FY 2025. The
outstanding capital expenditure of £116.0 million for the remaining pipeline
is expected to be funded from a combination of the Group's operating cash flow
and existing debt resources funded from the Group's existing resources.
In the half year we opened two stores in the UK, two stores and one extension
in Paris, four in Spain, and two in the Netherlands adding in total 531,300 sq
ft of MLA to our portfolio, contributing significantly to our operational
scale in our growing EU markets.
Opened H1 2025
New Developments FH/LH MLA Type
Madrid - North East (Barajas) FH 57.2 Conversion
Madrid - South West (Carbanchel) FH 45.4 Conversion
London - Lea Bridge FH 80.9 New Build
Barcelona - Central 2 (Manso) LH 19.8 Conversion
Pamplona FH 64.5 Conversion
London - Walton FH 20.7 Conversion
Randstad - Amsterdam FH 65.4 New Build
Paris - North West 1 (Taverny) FH 54.0 Conversion
Paris - West 3 (Mantes Buchelay) FH 58.0 New Build
Randstad - Utrecht FH 50.0 Conversion
Extensions
Paris - Pyrénées LH 15.4 Extension
Total Opened H1 2025 531.3
Pipeline
We have a total pipeline of 31 developments and extensions opening in FY 2025
and beyond which is expected to add a total of 1.6 million sq ft, representing
19% of portfolio MLA as at October 2024. This includes the ten new stores and
one extension which have already opened in the half year.
In addition to the 531,300 sq ft of MLA added in H1 2025, there is a pipeline
of four stores with 201,600 sq ft of MLA projected to be opening during the
remainder of FY 2025. This brings a total additional MLA projected to be
delivered in FY 2025 to 732,900 sq ft.
Remaining 2025 Opening (all New Developments)
FH/LH MLA Type Status
London - Wembley FH 55.3 New Build C, UC
Paris - La Défense FH 38.9 New Build C, UC
Paris - East 1 (Noisy-le-Grand) FH 60.0 Conversion C, UC
Brussels - Zaventem FH 47.4 New Build C, UC
Total remaining to open in 2025 201.6
2026 Opening (all New Developments)
FH/LH MLA Type Status
London - Watford FH 57.5 New Build C, UC
London - Woodford FH 68.7 New Build C, UC
Hemel Hempstead FH 51.3 New Build C, PG
Shoreham FH 47.1 New Build C, PG
London - Kingston FH 55.0 New Build CE, STP
Paris - West 4 (Orgeval) FH 53.0 New Build C, UC
Paris - Colombes FH 65.2 Conversion C, PG
Paris - West 1 (Conflans) FH 56.0 New Build C, PG
Madrid - Perseo FH 18.5 Conversion C, PG
Total opening in 2026 472.3
Beyond 2026 Opening (all New Developments)
FH/LH MLA Type Status
London - Belvedere FH 53.6 New Build C, STP
London - Bermondsey FH 50.0 New Build C, STP
London - Old Kent Road FH 75.6 New Build C, STP
Norwich FH 52.7 New Build C, STP
Welwyn Garden City FH 51.0 New Build CE, STP
Paris - Bry-sur-Marne FH 58.1 New Build CE, STP
Barcelona - Hospitalet FH 64.3 New Build CE, STP
Total opening beyond 2026 405.3
*C = completed, CE = contracts exchanged, STP = subject to planning, PG =
planning granted, UC = under construction
Following the openings in H1 2025, our ongoing pipeline of new store
developments comprises 20 projects identified which will deliver an additional
1,079,200 sq ft of new space. The developments are located in all of our
segments and are focused in the key cities of London (seven stores, 415,700 sq
ft), Paris (six stores, 331,200 sq ft), Madrid and Barcelona (two stores,
82,800 sq ft), Brussels (one store, 47,400 sq ft) and other regional cities
(four stores, 202,100 sq ft).
This pipeline is expected to deliver 201,600 sq ft of new space in H2 2025 and
877,600 sq ft in later years. Typically, we aim to structure our development
opportunities to minimise planning risk and working capital by making
completion on contracts for sites to also be subject to planning. In certain
instances we acquire sites in attractive location without planning granted
e.g. Central London or having secured a positive opinion from the local
planning authorities.
In December 2024, we entered the Italian market via a joint venture with
Nuveen. The EasyBox business comprises eleven open stores and one under
development, all in the key economic centres of Italy. The total MLA for the
business is currently 733,000 sq ft. We will manage the business on behalf of
the joint venture, leveraging Group expertise. EasyBox is a leading platform
in the emerging Italian storage market with a strong trading track record. In
Italy, the supply of self-storage at 0.03 sq ft per inhabitant is equivalent
to 3% of that of the UK. The investment will provide the initial critical size
of operations as well as 20 years of marketing and trading data points that
will be key to inform potential further investment decisions over time.
Our Strategy
The Group intends to continue to deliver on its proven strategy of leveraging
its well-located asset base, management expertise, infrastructure, scale and
balance sheet strength and further increase its Earnings per Share by:
· optimising the trading performance of the existing portfolio;
· maintaining a strong and flexible capital structure; and
· taking advantage of selective portfolio management and expansion
opportunities in our existing markets and, if appropriate, in attractive new
geographies either through a joint venture or in our own right.
In addition, the Group's strategy is pursued whilst maintaining a strong focus
on Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") matters and a summary of our
ESG strategy is provided further on.
Optimisation of Portfolio
With the opening of 51 new stores since 2016, in addition to the acquisitions
of 48 existing trading stores, we have established and strengthened our
market-leading portfolio in the UK and Paris and have entered the Spanish,
Dutch and Belgian markets. We have a high quality, fully invested estate in
all geographies and, of our 209 stores as at 30 April 2025, 110 are in London
and the South East of England or in Paris, with 61 in the other major UK
cities and 38 in the Expansion Markets region. In the UK, we now operate 53
stores within the M25, which represents a higher number of stores than any
other competitor.
Our MLA has increased to 9.1m sq ft as at 30 April 2025 (30 April 2024: 8.2m
sq ft). At the current MLA occupancy level of 69.8% (HY 2024: 74.4%), we have
2.8m sq ft of fully invested unoccupied space (3.8m sq ft including the
development pipeline), of which 1.6m sq ft is in our UK stores, 0.4m sq ft is
in Paris and 0.8m sq ft is in Expansion Markets. We have a proven track record
of filling our vacant space at efficiently managed rates, so we view this
availability of space with considerable optimism. We will also benefit from
the operational leverage from the fact that this available space is fully
invested, and the related operating costs are essentially fixed and already
included in the Group cost base. Our continued focus will be on ensuring that
we drive occupancy to utilise this capacity at carefully managed rates.
There are three elements that are critical to the optimisation of our existing
portfolio:
· enquiry generation through an efficient marketing operation;
· strong conversion of enquiries into new lets; and
· disciplined central revenue management and cost control.
Digital Marketing Expertise
Awareness of self-storage remains relatively low with half of the UK
population either knowing very little or nothing about self-storage (source:
SSA Annual Report 2025). In the UK, many of our new customers are using
self-storage for the first time and it is largely a brand-blind purchase.
Typically, customers requiring storage start their journey by conducting
online research using generic keywords in their locality (e.g. 'storage in
Borehamwood', 'self-storage near me') which means that geographic coverage and
search engine prominence remain key competitive advantages.
We believe there is a clear benefit of scale in the generation of customer
enquiries. The Group has continued to invest in technology and in-house
expertise which has resulted in the development of a leading digital marketing
platform that has generated 23% enquiry growth for the Group over the last
five years, an annual growth of 4%. Our in-house expertise and significant
annual budget have enabled us to deliver strong results.
The Group's online strength has meant that it continues to be the predominant
channel for customer acquisition. Online enquiries this year made up 90% of
all our enquiries in the UK (H1 2024: 89%), with 85% in France (H1 2024:
85%). The majority of our online enquiries now originate from a mobile
device, 70% share in UK for H1 2025, highlighting the need for continual
investment in our responsive web platform for a 'mobile-first' world. We
continue to invest in activities that promote a strong search engine presence
to grow enquiry volume whilst managing efficiency in terms of overall cost per
enquiry and cost per new let. Group marketing costs for the year as a
percentage of revenue were in line with the previous year at 4.0% (H1 2024:
4.0%).
During the period and post-period end, the Group demonstrated its ability to
integrate newly developed and acquired stores into its marketing platform with
successful new openings. We have clearly demonstrated that our marketing
platform is transferrable into multiple overseas geographies.
Central Revenue Management and Cost Control
We continue to pursue a balanced approach to revenue management. We aim to
optimise revenue per available space ("REVPAF") by improving the utilisation
of the available space in our portfolio at carefully managed rates. Our
central pricing team is responsible for the management of our dynamic pricing
policy, which is set weekly at the granular level of store / unit size,
together with the implementation of promotional offers and the identification
of additional ancillary revenue opportunities. Whilst prices are managed
centrally, where it is appropriate the store sales teams have the ability to
offer discretionary discounts or a Lowest Price Guarantee in the event that a
local competitor is offering a lower price in order to optimise REVPAF.
Average rates are predominantly influenced by:
· the store location and catchment area;
· the volume of enquiries generated online and available space;
· the store team's skills at converting these enquiries into new
lets at the expected price; and
· the very granular pricing policy and the confidence provided by
analytical capabilities and systems that smaller players might lack.
We believe that Safestore has a very strong proposition in each of these
areas.
Costs are managed centrally with a lean structure maintained at Head Office.
Enhancements to cost control are continually considered and, particularly in
the context of the current inflationary environment, the cost base is
challenged on an ongoing basis.
Motivated and effective store teams benefiting from investment in training and
development
Training, People and Performance Management
In what is still a relatively immature and poorly understood market, customer
service and selling skills at the point of sale remain essential in earning
the trust of the customer and in driving the appropriate balance of volumes
and unit price in order to optimise revenue growth in each store.
Our enthusiastic, well-trained, and customer-centric sales team remains a key
differentiator and a strength of our business. Understanding the needs of our
customers and using this knowledge to develop trusted in-store advisors is a
fundamental part of driving revenue growth and market share.
We have been an Investors in People ("IIP") accredited organisation since 2003
and we passionately believe that our continued success is dependent on our
highly motivated and well-trained colleagues. Following the award of a Bronze
accreditation in 2015, a Gold accreditation in 2018, and a Platinum
accreditation in 2021, we were thrilled that in March 2024, we were again
awarded the prestigious Investors in People ("IIP") Platinum accreditation.
Platinum is the highest level of accreditation and very few organisations
achieve it, so to obtain Platinum twice is an extraordinary achievement.
IIP is the international standard for people management, defining what it
takes to lead, support, and engage people effectively to achieve sustainable
results. Underpinning the standard is the IIP framework, reflecting the latest
workplace trends, essential skills and effective structures required to
outperform in any industry. Investors in People enables organisations to
benchmark against the best in the business on an international scale. We are
proud to have our colleagues recognised to such a high standard.
We are committed to growing and rewarding our people and we tailor our
development, reward and recognition programmes to reflect this. Our IIP
recognised coaching programme, launched in 2018 and upgraded every year since,
continues to be a driving force behind the continuous performance improvement
demonstrated by our store colleagues.
Our online learning portal, combined with the energy and flexibility of our
store colleagues, allows us to deliver our award-winning development
programmes.
All new recruits to the business benefit from enhanced induction and training
tools that have been developed in-house and enable us to quickly identify
high-potential individuals and increase their speed to competency. They
receive individual performance targets within four weeks of joining the
business and are placed on the 'pay-for-skills' programme that allows
accelerated basic pay increases dependent on success in demonstrating specific
and defined skills. The key target of our programme remains that we grow our
talent through our internal Store Manager Development ("SMD") programme, and
we are pleased with our progress to date.
Our SMD programme has been in place since 2016 and is a key part of succession
planning for future Store Managers. Four participants of our 2024 SMD
programme have successfully completed their Level 3 Management and Leadership
apprenticeship so far, and we're delighted that three of those participants
were awarded distinctions.
In March 2025, we commenced our eighth SMD programme. Funded by the
Apprenticeship Levy, this programme provides the opportunity to complete a
Level 3 Management and Leadership apprenticeship, with the additional
opportunity to complete an Institute of Leadership and Management ("ILM")
qualification.
We support our leaders to encourage and welcome diversity. Our Equality,
Diversity, and Inclusion e-Learning module is part of the induction for all
new colleagues joining Safestore. This is about ensuring our culture is
friendly and welcoming to all. We want Safestore to be a safe space for
discussion and curiosity to enable colleagues at all levels to continually
learn from each other. In our 2024 IIP survey, over 90% of colleagues were
aware of our equality, diversity, and inclusion policies.
Our performance dashboard allows our store and field teams to focus on the key
operating metrics of the business, providing an appropriate level of
management information to enable swift decision making. Reporting performance
down to individual colleague level enhances our competitive approach to team
and individual performance. We continue to reward our store colleagues for
their performance with bonuses of up to 50% of basic salary based on their
achievements against individual targets for new lets, occupancy, and ancillary
sales. In addition, our Values and Behaviours framework is overlaid on
individuals' performance in order to assess performance and development needs
on a quarterly basis.
Our colleagues describe a real listening and learning culture at Safestore.
There are channels in place help to give everyone a voice, such as our 'Make
the Difference' people forum. Launched in 2018, the forum enables frequent
opportunities for us to hear and respond to our colleagues. Our network of
"People Champions" collects questions and feedback from their peers across the
business and put them to members of the Executive Committee. We drive change
and continuous improvement in responding to the feedback we receive for "Our
Business, Our Customers and Our Colleagues".
People Champions:
· consult and collect the views and suggestions of all colleagues
that they represent;
· engage in the bi-annual 'Make the Difference' people forum,
raising and representing the views of their colleagues; and
· consult with and discuss feedback with management and the
leadership team at Safestore.
Our values are authentic, having been created by our people. They are core to
the employment life cycle and bring consistency to our culture. Our leaders
have high values alignment enabling us to make the right decisions for our
colleagues and our customers.
Our customers continue to be at the heart of everything we do, whether it be
in store, online or in their communities. Our commitment to our customers
mirrors that of our commitment to our colleagues.
Customer Satisfaction
In February 2025, Safestore UK won the Feefo Platinum Trusted Service award
for the sixth time. The award is given to businesses which have achieved Gold
standard for three consecutive years. It is an independent mark of excellence
that recognises businesses for delivering exceptional experiences, as rated by
real customers. In addition to using Feefo, Safestore invites customers to
leave a review on a number of review platforms, including Google and
Trustpilot. Our ratings for each of these three providers in the UK are
between 4.6 and 4.9 out of 5. In France, Une Pièce en Plus uses Google and
Trustpilot to obtain independent customer reviews and in H1 2025, achieved a
4.9 out of 5 and a "TrustScore" of 4.2 out of 5 respectively. In Spain, our
business collects customer feedback via Google reviews and has attained a
score of 4.9 out of 5. Belgium also collects feedback via Google and has a
score of 4.9 in H1 2025.
Strong and Flexible Capital Structure
We believe that our capital structure is appropriate for our business, with a
strong balance sheet which provides us with the flexibility to take advantage
of carefully evaluated development and acquisition opportunities.
The Group finances its operations through a combination of equity and debt. As
at 30 April 2025, the loan to value ("LTV") ratio for the Group was 27.4% (30
April 2024: 25.7%), which is well below the 40% maximum policy rate which the
Board considers appropriate.
Both this LTV and the interest cover ratio ("ICR") of 3.9x for H1 2025 (H1
2024: 5.0x) provides us with significant headroom compared to our banking
covenants (LTV of 60% and ICR of 2.4x). The reduction in ICR in year reflects
higher interest costs from increased borrowings to finance our development
programme and the recent EasyBox acquisition.
At half year, the Group's weighted average cost of debt on drawn debt was
3.60% and 58% of the drawn debt attracts fixed rates of interest. We have
ample liquidity with £107.2 million of undrawn bank facilities at 30 April
2025.
Together with the available financing, the Group's operations are strongly
cash generative and produce sufficient free cash flow to fund our progressive
dividend policy together with our development programme.
ESG Strategy
ESG: Sustainable Self-Storage
Our purpose - to add stakeholder value by developing profitable and
sustainable spaces that allow individuals, businesses and local communities to
thrive - is supported by the 'pillars' of our sustainability strategy: our
people, our customers, our community and our environment. In addition, the
Group and its stakeholders recognise that its efforts are part of a broader
movement and we have, therefore, aligned our objectives with the UN
Sustainable Development Goals ("SDGs"). We reviewed the significance of each
goal to our business, their importance to our stakeholders and assessed our
ability to contribute to each of them. Following this materiality exercise, we
have chosen to focus our efforts in the areas where we can have a meaningful
impact. These are 'Decent work and economic growth' (goal 8), 'Sustainable
cities and communities' (goal 11), 'Responsible consumption and production'
(goal 12) and 'Climate action' (goal 13).
Sustainability is embedded into day-to-day responsibilities at Safestore and,
accordingly, we have opted for a governance structure which reflects this. Two
members of the Executive Management team co-chair a cross-functional
sustainability group consisting of the functional leads responsible for each
area of the business.
In 2018, the Group established medium term targets in each of the 'pillars'
towards which the Group continued to progress in H1 2025.
Our people: Safestore was awarded the prestigious Investors in People ("IIP")
Platinum accreditation in both 2021 and 2024. Platinum is the highest level of
accreditation possible to achieve on our 'We invest in people' accreditation.
It means policies and practices around supporting people are embedded in every
corner of Safestore. In a platinum company, everyone knows they have a part to
play in the company doing well and are always looking for ways to improve.
Our customers: the Group's brands continue to deliver a high-quality
experience, from online enquiry to move-in. This is reflected in strong
customer satisfaction scores on independent review platforms (Trustpilot,
Feefo and Google).
Our community: we remain committed to being a responsible business by making a
positive contribution within the local communities wherever our stores are
based. We continue to do this by developing brownfield sites and actively
engaging with local communities when we establish a new store, identifying and
implementing greener approaches in the way we build and operate our stores,
helping charities and communities to make better use of limited space, and
creating and sustaining local employment opportunities directly and indirectly
through the many small and medium-sized enterprises which use our space.
During H1 2025, local charities were being supported via free or subsidised
space in over 100 of our stores.
Our environment: we are committed to ensuring our buildings are constructed
responsibly and their ongoing operation has a minimal impact on local
communities and the environment. It should be noted that the self-storage
sector is not a significant consumer of energy when compared with other
segments of the real estate landscape. According to a 2024 report by KPMG and
EPRA, self-storage generates the lowest greenhouse gas emissions intensity of
all European real estate sub-sectors. Reflecting the considerable progress
made on efficiency measures and waste reduction to date, Safestore's emissions
intensity is lower than the self-storage sector average.
In H1 2025, the Group continued progress towards achieving operational carbon
neutrality (target 2035) by implementing key elements of the transition plan,
including the removal of gas-burning appliances from stores in the UK estate
and ensuring all new openings meet or exceed the minimum energy performance
standard of a 'B' rating and include energy solar PV installations where
viable. In H1 2025, we renewed our zero-carbon electricity supply arrangement
in France; all Group markets continue to be powered by zero carbon
electricity.
In addition to the IIP award and the customer satisfaction ratings, the Group
has received recognition for its sustainability progress and disclosures in
the last twelve months. Safestore was awarded its first ever Gold rating in
the 2024 EPRA Sustainability BPR awards. The Global ESG Benchmark for Real
Assets ("GRESB") has once again awarded Safestore an 'A' rating in its 2024
Public Disclosures assessment. MSCI has also awarded Safestore its
second-highest rating of 'AA' for ESG.
Portfolio Summary
Our approach to store development and acquisitions in the UK, Paris, Expansion
Markets and our joint ventures, with Carlyle in Germany and Nuveen in Italy
continues to be flexible and focused on the return on capital with a proven
track record of double-digit cash-on-cash store returns at maturity.
Our experienced and skilled property teams in all geographies continue to seek
investment opportunities in new sites to add to the store pipeline. However,
investments will only be made if they comply with our disciplined and strict
investment criteria. Our preference is to acquire sites that are capable of
being fully operational within 18 - 24 months from completion.
Since 2016, the Group has opened 51 new stores in the UK (22), Paris (10),
Spain (12) and the Netherlands (7) adding 2,348,000 sq ft of MLA.
In addition, the Group has acquired 48 existing stores through the
acquisitions of Space Maker, Alligator, Fort Box, Salus and Your Room in the
UK, OhMyBox! in Barcelona, the Lokabox and M3 group from our Benelux JV
acquisition, Apeldoorn in the Netherlands and Chelsea Self Storage. These
acquisitions added a further 1,909,800 sq ft of MLA and revenue performance
has been enhanced in all cases under the Group's ownership.
In the same period, we have also completed the revenue enhancing extensions
and refurbishments of 15 stores adding a net 175,000 sq ft of fully invested
space to the estate. All of these stores are performing in line with or ahead
of their business plans.
Store Portfolio by Region London & Rest of UK Paris Expansion Group
South-East UK Total Markets Total
Number of Stores 78 61 139 32 38 209
Let Square Feet (m sq ft) 2.322 2.115 4.437 1.120 0.825 6.382
Current Lettable Area (m sq ft) 3.048 2.710 5.758 1.415 1.407 8.580
Average Let Square Feet per store (k sq ft) 30 35 32 35 22 31
Average Store CLA (k sq ft) 39 44 41 44 37 41
Closing Occupancy % 76.2% 78.0% 77.0% 79.2% 58.6% 74.4%
Average Rate (£ per sq ft) 36.66 23.48 30.36 35.36 20.45 29.98
Revenue (£'m) 50.9 30.3 81.2 21.4 10.2 112.8
Average Revenue per Store (£'m) 0.65 0.50 0.58 0.67 0.27 0.54
We have a strong position in both the UK and Paris markets operating 139
stores in the UK, 78 of which are in London and the South East, and 32 stores
in Paris.
In the UK, 63% of our revenue was generated by our stores in London and the
South East. On average, our stores in London and the South East are smaller
than in the rest of the UK but the rental rates achieved are materially
higher, enabling these stores to typically achieve similar or better margins
than the larger stores
In addition, we have the benefit of a leading national presence in the UK
outside of London where the stores are predominantly located in the centre of
key metropolitan areas such as Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol,
Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
In France, we have a leading position in the heart of the affluent City of
Paris market with nine stores branded as Une Pièce en Plus ("UPP") ("A spare
room"). Over 53% of the UPP stores are located in a cluster within a five-mile
radius of the city centre, which facilitates strong operational and marketing
synergies as well as options to differentiate and channel customers to the
right store subject to their preference for convenience or price
affordability. The Parisian market has attractive socio-demographic
characteristics for self-storage and we believe that UPP enjoys unique
strategic strength in such an attractive market.
In Spain, the Group has 15 stores open in Barcelona and Madrid and one open in
Pamplona in the Basque Country/ Navarra region, which has clusters of
population benefitting from above average economic dynamics.
The Group also has 16 stores open in the Netherlands , two of which opened in
the half year. In Belgium there are six stores with a further store due to
open later this year.
Overall Expansion Markets now comprises 38 stores, a 19% increase from last
year.
Market
The self-storage market in the UK, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium
remains relatively immature compared to geographies such as the USA and
Australia. The SSA Annual Survey (May 2025) confirmed that self-storage
capacity stands at 0.94 sq ft per head of population in the UK. The most
recent report relating to Europe (FEDESSA's 2024 report) showed that capacity
in France is 0.41 sq ft per capita. This compares with closer to 7 sq ft per
inhabitant in the USA and 2 sq ft in Australia.
In Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium, penetration is similarly low. In Spain,
capacity is around 0.43 sq ft per head of population, in the Netherlands 0.71
sq ft per head of population, and in Belgium 0.22 sq ft per head of
population.
The Group has an associate in Germany. The German market is one of Europe's
more under-penetrated markets with just 0.27 sq ft of storage space per capita
and, according to the 2024 FEDESSA report, 22.3 million sq ft of lettable
space.
During the half year the Group entered into a joint venture in Italy. This
market has the lowest penetration of major economies in Western Europe with
0.03 sq feet per head of population.
Our interpretation of the most recent 2025 SSA report is that operators remain
optimistic about their trading and the future growth of the industry. In the
past few years, the self-storage industry has undergone an unprecedented
period of change largely due to developments in technology.
New supply in London and Paris is likely to continue to be limited in the
short and medium term as a result of planning restrictions, competition from a
variety of other uses and the availability of suitable land.
The supply in the UK market, according to the SSA Survey, remains relatively
fragmented despite a number of acquisitions in the sector in recent years. The
SSA's estimates of the scale of the UK industry are finessed each year and
changes from one year to the next represent improved data in addition to new
supply. In the 2025 report the SSA estimates that 2,915 self-storage
facilities exist in the UK market including around 1,135 container-based
operations. At the point in time that the 2025 survey was written, Safestore
was the industry leader by number of stores with 139 wholly owned sites. In
aggregate, the top seven leading operators account for around 16% of the UK
store portfolio. The remaining c. 2,442 self-storage outlets (including
container-based operations) are independently owned in small chains or single
units.
Our French business, UPP, is mainly present in the core wealthier and more
densely populated inner Paris and first belt areas, whereas our two main
competitors, have a greater presence in the outskirts and second belt of
Paris.
Our Spanish business currently operates in Barcelona and Madrid with one store
in Pamplona. The metropolitan areas of Barcelona and Madrid have combined
growing high-density populations of twelve million inhabitants and significant
barriers to entry.
Our focus in the Netherlands market is on the densely populated Amsterdam and
Randstad conurbations. The Netherlands is the second most developed
self-storage market in Europe (after the UK). In Belgium our presence is
focused on Brussels and the significant urban conurbations of Liege, Charleroi
and Nivelles.
Consumer awareness of self-storage appears to be increasing but at a
relatively slow rate, providing an opportunity for future industry growth. The
SSA survey indicates that approximately half of consumers have low awareness
about the service offered by self-storage operators or had not heard of
self-storage at all. Since 2014, this statistic has only fallen 14ppts from
61%. Therefore, the opportunity to grow awareness, combined with limited new
industry supply, makes for an attractive industry backdrop.
Self-storage is a brand-blind product and 49% of respondents in the 2025 SSA
Survey were unable to name a self-storage business in their local area. The
lack of relevance of brand in the process of purchasing a self-storage product
emphasises the need for operators to have a strong online presence. This
requirement for a strong online presence was also reiterated by the SSA Survey
where 68% of those surveyed (76% in 2024) confirmed that an internet search
would be their chosen means of finding a self-storage unit to contact, whilst
knowledge of a physical location of a store as reason for enquiry was only 32%
of respondents ( 30% in 2024).
There are numerous drivers of self-storage growth. Most domestic and business
customers need storage either temporarily or permanently for different reasons
at any point in the economic cycle, resulting in a market depth that is, in
our view, the reason for its exceptional resilience. The growth of the market
is driven both by the fluctuation of economic conditions, which has an impact
on the mix of demand, and by growing awareness of the product.
Our domestic customers' need for storage is often driven by life events such
as births, marriages, bereavements, divorces or by the housing market
including house moves and developments and moves between rental properties.
At 38% of square feet occupied by business customers, our customer base in the
UK is more heavily weighted to business customers than the rest of the Group.
Given the customer mix we have been accelerating the conversion of larger
units (over 250 sq ft) into smaller units to serve a wider range of customers.
Through this partitioning programme, we anticipate significantly reducing the
current c 1.0 million sq ft of larger units so that the UK ratio of domestic
to business customers comes closer to the 70/30 split seen in the rest of the
Group.
Our customer base is resilient and diverse and consists of around 98,000
domestic, business and National Accounts customers across the Group.
Business and Personal Customers UK Paris Expansion Markets
Numbers (% of total) 79% 82% 89%
Square feet occupied (% of total) 62% 65% 81%
Average Length of Stay (months) 17.9 24.4 23.8
Business Customers
Numbers (% of total) 21% 18% 11%
Square feet occupied (% of total) 38% 35% 19%
Average Length of Stay (months) 26.2 26.8 30.7
Business Model
The Group operates in a market with relatively low consumer awareness. It is
anticipated that this will increase over time as the industry matures. To
date, despite the financial crisis in 2007/08, the implementation of VAT in
the UK on self-storage in 2012, Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic, inflation and
the conflict in the Ukraine, the industry has been exceptionally resilient. In
the context of continued uncertain economic conditions, the industry remains
well positioned with limited new supply coming into the self-storage market.
With more stores inside London's M25 than any other operator and a strong
position in central Paris, we have leading positions in the two most important
and demographically favourable markets in Europe. In addition, our regional
presence in the UK is unsurpassed and contributes to the success of our
industry-leading National Accounts business. In the UK, Safestore is the
leading operator by number of wholly owned stores. With 60% of customers
travelling for less than 20 minutes to their storage facility (2025 SSA
Survey). Our national store footprint represents a competitive advantage.
The Group's capital-efficient portfolio of 209 stores in the UK, Paris and
Expansion Markets consists of a mix of freehold and leasehold stores. In order
to grow the business and secure the best locations for our facilities we have
maintained a flexible approach to leasehold and freehold developments as well
as being comfortable with a range of building types, from new builds to
conversions of warehouses and underground car parks.
Currently, around a quarter of our stores in the UK are leaseholds with an
average remaining lease length at 30 April 2025 of 12.5 years (H1 2024: 13.6
years). Although our property valuation for leaseholds is based on future cash
flows until the next contractual lease renewal date, Safestore has a
demonstrable track record of successfully re-gearing leases several years
before renewal whilst at the same time achieving concessions from landlords.
From time to time, we will purchase the freehold on leasehold properties, when
these become available at appropriate prices.
In England, we benefit from the Landlord and Tenant Act that protects our
rights for renewal except in case of redevelopment. The vast majority of our
leasehold stores have building characteristics or locations in retail parks
that make current usage either the optimal and best use of the property or the
only one authorised by planning. We observe that our landlords, who are
property investors, value the quality of Safestore as a tenant and typically
prefer to extend the length of the leases that they have in their portfolio,
enabling Safestore to maintain favourable terms.
In Paris, our leases typically benefit from the well-enshrined Commercial
Lease statute that provides that tenants own the commercial property of the
premises and that they are entitled to renew their lease. Taking this context
into account, the independent valuation provider values the French leaseholds
based on an indefinite property tenure, similar to freeholds but at a
significantly higher exit cap rate.
The Group believes there is an opportunity to leverage its highly scalable
marketing and operational expertise in geographies outside the UK and Paris to
make a significant contribution to Group expansion.
Expansion markets consists of sixteen stores in Spain, sixteen stores in the
Netherlands and six in Belgium. There are a further three stores in the
development pipeline (Spain - two, Belgium - one) at the end of April 2025.
These stores are principally located in the key metropolitan areas of the
Randstad, Barcelona, Madrid and Brussels. The growth opportunity from these
markets is in both the availability of high-quality sites for new stores and
LFL income growth as the markets mature.
In 2022, Safestore entered the German self-storage market via a joint venture
with Carlyle, which has acquired the myStorage business. After acquiring the
freehold to one of their sites, myStorage now has five medium to long-term
leasehold in addition to a further leasehold expiring in 2026. The 326,000 sq
ft of MLA is spread across Berlin, Heidelburg, Mannheim, Fürth, Nuremburg,
Neu-Ulm and Reutlingen.
Safestore is one of the UK's largest self-storage group with 209 stores on 30
April 2025; comprising 139 in the UK (including 78 in London and the South
East with the remainder in key metropolitan areas such as Manchester,
Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle, and
Bristol), 32 in the Paris region, 16 in Spain, 16 in the Netherlands and 6 in
Belgium. In addition, the Group operates 7 stores in Germany through a Joint
Venture with Carlyle and 11 stores (plus one under development) in Italy
through a Joint Venture with Nuveen.
Our experience is that being flexible in its approach has enabled us to
operate from properties and in markets that would have been otherwise
unavailable and to generate strong cash-on-cash returns.
We excel in the generation of customer enquiries which are received through a
variety of channels including the internet, telephone and "walk-ins". In the
early days of the industry, local directories and store visibility were key
drivers of enquiries. However, the internet is now by far the dominant
channel, accounting for 90% (H1 2024: 89%) of our enquiries in the UK and 85%
(H1 2024: 85%) in France. This dynamic is a clear benefit to the leading
national operators that possess the budget and the management skills necessary
to generate a commanding presence in the major search engines. We have
developed and continue to invest in a leading digital marketing platform that
has generated 23% enquiry growth over the last five years.
Although mostly generated online, our enquiries are predominantly handled
directly by the stores. Our pricing platform provides the store colleagues
with system-generated real-time prices managed by our centrally based
yield-management team. Local colleagues have certain levels of discretion to
flex the system-generated prices, but this is continually monitored.
Customer service standards are high and customer satisfaction feedback is
consistently very positive. The key drivers of sales success are the capacity
to generate enquiries in a digital world, the capacity to provide storage
locations that are conveniently located close to the customers' requirements
and the ability to maintain a consistently high quality, motivated retail team
that is able to secure customer sales at an appropriate storage rate, all of
which can be better provided by larger, more efficient organisations.
We remain focused on business as well as domestic customers. Our national
network means that we are uniquely placed to further grow the business
customer market and in particular National Accounts. Within our business
customer category, our National Accounts business represents around 493,000 sq
ft of occupied space (around 11% of the UK's occupancy). Approximately 71% of
the space occupied by National Accounts customers is outside London,
demonstrating the importance and quality of our well invested national estate.
At the half year, business customers constitute 38% of our total space let in
the UK. We are accelerating the conversion of larger units (over 250 sq ft)
into smaller ones more suitable for domestic customers, reducing the historic
over-weight towards business customers in the UK. Through this partitioning
programme we expect to significantly reduce the current 1.0 million sq ft of
larger units, which are predominantly located in London (36%) and south east
England (24%), so that the UK ratio of domestic to business customers comes
closer to the 70/30 split by occupied space seen in the rest of the Group.
The business now has in excess of 98,000 business and domestic customers with
an average length of stay of 27 months and 21 months respectively.
The cost base of the business is relatively fixed with regard to changes in
occupancy. Each store typically employs three staff. Our Group Head Office
comprises business support functions such as Yield Management, Property,
Marketing, HR, IT and Finance.
Frederic Vecchioli
10 June 2025
Financial Review
Underlying Income Statement
The table below sets out the Group's underlying results of operations for the
half year ended 30 April 2025 ("H1 2025") and the half year ended 30 April
2024 ("H1 2024"). To calculate the underlying performance metrics, adjustments
are made for the impact of exceptional items, share-based payments, corporate
transaction costs, change in fair value of derivatives, gain or loss on
investment properties and the associated tax impacts, as well as exceptional
tax items and deferred tax. Although not superseding IFRS, management
considers this presentation of earnings to be representative of the underlying
performance of the business, as it removes the income statement impact of
items not fully controllable by management, such as the revaluation of
derivatives and investment properties, and the impact of exceptional credits,
costs and finance charges.
H1 2025 H1 2024 Mvmt
£'m £'m %
Revenue 112.8 109.2 3.3%
Underlying costs (47.3) (42.1) 12.4%
Share of associate's underlying EBITDA 0.6 - -
Underlying EBITDA 66.1 67.1 (1.5%)
Leasehold rent (8.0) (7.7) 4.0%
Underlying EBITDA after leasehold rent 58.1 59.4 (2.2%)
Depreciation (0.8) (0.7) (14.3%)
Share of associate's finance charges (0.7) - -
Net underlying finance charges (13.0) (9.7) 33.9%
Underlying profit before tax 43.6 49.0 (11.0%)
Current tax (1.8) (2.6) (30.8%)
Adjusted EPRA earnings 41.8 46.4 (9.9%)
Share-based payments charge (1.2) (1.4) (14.3%)
EPRA basic earnings 40.6 45.0 (9.8%)
Average shares in issue (m) 218.4 218.3
Diluted shares (for ADE EPS) (m) 219.7 219.3
Adjusted diluted EPRA EPS (p) 19.0 21.2 (10.4%)
Notes:
· Adjusted Diluted EPRA EPS is defined in note 2 to the financial
statements.
· Adjusted EPRA earnings excludes share-based payment charges and,
accordingly, the underlying EBITDA, underlying EBITDA after leasehold costs
and underlying profit before tax measures have been presented excluding
share-based payment charges for consistency.
The table below reconciles statutory profit before tax in the income statement
to underlying profit before tax in the table above.
H1 2025 H1 2024
£'m £'m
Statutory profit before tax 97.0 173.7
Adjusted for
- gain on investment properties and investment properties under construction (54.6) (126.1)
- share-based payments 1.2 1.4
Underlying profit before tax 43.6 49.0
Management considers the above presentation of earnings to be representative
of the underlying performance of the business.
Underlying EBITDA decreased by 1.5% to £66.1 million (H1 2024: £67.1
million) reflecting a 3.3% increase in revenue and a 12.4% increase in
underlying costs.
Net underlying finance charges increased from £9.7 million for H1 2024 to
£13.0 million for H1 2025. This principally reflects the increased borrowing
to finance our development programme and EasyBox acquisition.
As a result, underlying profit before tax decreased 11.0% to £43.6 million
(H1 2024: £49.0 million). The decrease in statutory profit before tax of
£76.7 million to £97.0 million (H1 2024: £173.7 million) results from the
lower gain on the fair value of investment properties of £54.6 million (H1
2024: £126.1 million).
Given the Group's REIT status in the UK, tax is not normally payable on rental
income in the UK but is payable on non-UK earnings. The current underlying tax
charge for the half was £1.8 million (H1 2024: £2.6 million).
As explained in note 2 to the financial statements, management considers that
the most representative earnings per share ("EPS") measure is Adjusted Diluted
EPRA EPS which has decreased by 2.2p or 10.4% to 19.0 pence (H1 2024: 21.2
pence).
Reconciliation of Underlying EBITDA
The table below reconciles the operating profit included in the consolidated
income statement to underlying EBITDA.
H1 2025 H1 2024
£'m £'m
Statutory operating profit 112.9 186.3
Adjusted for
- gain on investment properties and investment properties under construction (49.5) (121.7)
- share of joint venture and associate interest and tax 0.7 -
- variable lease payments - 0.4
- depreciation 0.8 0.7
- share-based payments 1.2 1.4
Underlying EBITDA 66.1 67.1
The main reconciling items between statutory operating profit and underlying
EBITDA are the gain on investment properties and investment properties under
construction of £49.5 million at 30 April 2025 (30 April 2024: £121.7
million).
The table below breaks out the underlying EBITDA of the Group at CER between
LFL and Non-LFL stores
Group Total at CER
H1 2025 H1 2024 Movement
£'m £'m £'m %
Revenue
LFL 111.5 108.6 2.9 2.7%
Non-LFL 2.1 0.6 1.5 250.0%
Total 113.6 109.2 4.4 4.0%
Underlying Cost of Sales
LFL (36.1) (34.3) (1.8) 5.2%
Non-LFL (2.3) (0.3) (2.0) 666.7%
Total (38.4) (34.6) (3.8) 11.0%
Store EBITDA
LFL 75.4 74.3 1.1 1.5%
Non-LFL (0.2) 0.3 (0.5) (166.7%)
Total 75.2 74.6 0.6 0.8%
Underlying Administrative Costs (9.4) (7.5) (1.9) 25.3%
JV & Associate EBITDA 0.6 - 0.6 -
Underlying EBITDA 66.4 67.1 (0.7) (1.0%)
LFL Store EBITDA growth being driven by LFL revenue growth. Notwithstanding
the non-LFL cost increase due to new store openings, non-LFL EBITDA broadly
flat vs FY 2024 and within the half year.
Underlying Profit by geographical region
The Group is organised and managed in three operating segments based on
geographical region, with Expansion Markets including our operations in Spain,
the Netherlands and Belgium together with our German associate and Italian
joint venture. The table below details the underlying profitability of each
region.
H1 2025 H1 2024
UK Paris Exp'n Mkts Total (CER) UK Paris Exp'n Mkts Total (CER)
£'m €'m €'m £'m £'m €'m €'m £'m
Revenue 81.2 25.5 12.2 113.6 79.5 25.1 9.5 109.2
Underlying cost of sales (27.8) (6.7) (5.4) (38.4) (24.4) (7.6) (4.2) (34.6)
Store EBITDA 53.4 18.8 6.8 75.2 55.1 17.5 5.3 74.6
Store EBITDA margin 65.8% 73.7% 55.7% 66.2% 69.3% 69.7% 55.8% 68.3%
LFL Store EBITDA margin 66.4% 73.9% 63.1% 67.6% 69.2% 69.7% 57.9% 68.4%
Underlying administrative expenses (6.2) (2.1) (1.3) (9.4) (5.0) (1.8) (1.1) (7.5)
Share of joint venture and associate EBITDA (0.1) - 0.8 0.6 - - - -
Underlying EBITDA 47.1 16.7 6.3 66.4 50.1 15.7 4.2 67.1
EBITDA margin 58.0% 65.5% 51.9% 58.5% 63.0% 62.5% 44.2% 61.4%
Leasehold costs (4.9) (3.1) (0.6) (8.1) (4.5) (3.3) (0.5) (7.7)
Underlying EBITDA after leasehold costs 42.2 13.6 5.7 58.3 45.6 12.4 3.7 59.4
EBITDA after leasehold costs margin 52.0% 53.3% 47.0% 51.3% 57.4% 49.4% 38.9% 54.4%
UK Paris Exp'n Mkts Total UK Paris Exp'n Mkts Total
£'m £'m £'m £'m £'m £'m £'m £'m
Underlying EBITDA after leasehold costs (CER) 42.2 11.4 4.7 58.3 45.6 10.8 3.0 59.4
Adjustment to actual exchange rate - (0.1) (0.1) (0.2) - - - -
Reported underlying EBITDA after leasehold costs 42.2 11.3 4.6 58.1 45.6 10.8 3.0 59.4
Note: CER is Constant Exchange Rates with Euro denominated results for the
current period translated at the exchange rate effective for the comparative
period in order to present the reported results on a more comparable basis.
Underlying EBITDA in the UK decreased by £3.0 million, or 6.0%, to £47.1
million (H1 2024: £50.1 million), reflecting a 2.3% increase in revenue
together with an increase in underlying cost of sales and administrative
expenses of £4.6 million. The Underlying EBITDA margin reduced to 58.0%
compared to 63.0% in H1 2024.
In Paris, underlying EBITDA increased by €1.0 million to €16.7 million,
reflecting a €0.4 million increase in revenue alongside a decrease in cost
of sales and administrative expenses of €0.6 million. As a result,
Underlying EBITDA margin increased to 65.5% from 62.5% in H1 2024.
Underlying EBITDA in Expansion Markets increased by €2.1 million or 50.9% to
€6.3 million (H1 2024: €4.2 million) reflecting a €2.7 million increase
in revenue less an increase in cost of sales and administrative expenses of
€1.4 million. As a result, Underlying EBITDA margin increased from 44.2% in
H1 2024 to 51.9% in H1 2025.
Adjusting for an unfavourable exchange rate movement impact of £0.2 million
in the current year, Group reported underlying EBITDA after leasehold costs
decreased by 2.2% or £1.3 million to £58.1 million (H1 2024: £59.4
million).
Revenue
Revenue for the Group is primarily derived from the rental of self-storage
space and the sale of ancillary products such as StoreProtect and merchandise
(e.g. packing materials and padlocks).
The split of the Group's revenues by geographical segment is set out below for
H1 2025 and H1 2024.
H1 2025 % of total H1 2024 % of total % change
UK £'m 81.2 72% 79.5 73% 2.3%
Paris
Local currency €'m 25.5 25.1 1.6%
Paris in GBP £'m 21.4 19% 21.6 21% (0.9%)
Expansion Markets(13)
Local currency €'m 12.2 9.5 28.4%
Expansion Markets in GBP £'m 10.2 9% 8.1 6% 25.9%
Average exchange rate €:£ 1.195 1.163
Total revenue 112.8 100% 109.2 100% 3.3%
The Group's reported revenue increased by 3.3% or £3.6 million during the
half. LFL revenue at CER increased by 2.8%.
Average rental rates for the Group on a LFL CER basis increased by 0.8% to
£30.40 (H1 2024: £30.17) coupled with an increase in closing occupancy of
0.6ppts to 78.2% (H1 2024: 77.6%).
In the UK, LFL revenue increased by £1.3 million or 1.6%. This was driven by
a 1.9% increase in the average occupancy together with an increase in average
store rate of 0.1%.
In addition, new stores and developments in the UK contributed an additional
£1.1 million of revenue in the half.
In Paris, LFL revenue increased by 0.8% or €0.2 million. There was an
increase in the average rental rate in Paris to €42.58 for the period, an
increase of 1.9% on €41.78 in H1 2024.
Expansion Markets delivered 17.0% LFL revenue growth in H1 2025 with positive
momentum in all markets. Total revenue, including the benefit of new stores,
increased 28.4% year on year to €12.2 million.
Analysis of Cost Base
On a like-for-like CER basis, adjusting for new stores, total costs increased
by 5.2% from £34.3 million for H1 2024 to £36.1 million for H1 2025.
Cost of sales
H1 2025 H1 2024
£'m £'m
Volume related including bad debt (2.4) (2.7)
Store employee and related (12.2) (11.7)
Marketing (4.5) (4.4)
Business rates (9.2) (7.8)
Facilities and premises insurance (7.8) (7.7)
Underlying cost of sales (Like-for-like; CER) (36.1) (34.3)
New stores and developments (2.3) (0.3)
Foreign exchange 0.2 -
Underlying costs of sales (38.2) (34.6)
Depreciation (0.8) (0.7)
Variable lease payments - (0.4)
Total costs of sales (39.0) (35.7)
In order to arrive at underlying cost of sales, adjustments are made to remove
the impact of depreciation and variable lease payments.
Adjusting for the impact of new stores, underlying cost of sales at CER on a
like-for-like basis increased by 5.2% or £1.8 million, to £36.1 million (H1
2024: £34.3 million).
Of this, volume related costs including bad debt, decreased £0.3 million,
principally due to improvements in non-payer management processes. Store
employee costs increased £0.5 million as a result of increases in the
National Living Wage in April 2024. Business rates were £1.4 million higher
in the half year as a result of CPI-linked increases and increased ratable
values.
The cost of sales attributable to non-LFL stores added £2.0 million year on
year reflecting the costs in newly opened stores.
Administrative Expenses
The table below reconciles reported administrative expenses to underlying
administrative expenses and details the key movements in underlying
administrative expenses between H1 2024 and H1 2025.
H1 2025 H1 2024
£'m £'m
Underlying administrative expenses (Like-for-like; CER) (9.2) (7.5)
New stores and developments (0.2) -
Foreign exchange 0.2 -
Underlying administrative expenses (9.2) (7.5)
Share based payments (1.2) (1.4)
Total administrative expenses (10.4) (8.9)
In order to arrive at underlying administrative expenses, adjustments are made
to remove the impact of any exceptional items and share-based payments.
Underlying administrative expenses increased by 22.7% or £1.7 million to
£9.2 million (H1 2024: £7.5 million). The increase primarily arose from a
rise in employee and related costs reflecting the normalisation of variable
pay for head office staff and the write off of preliminary costs for
discontinued development projects.
Gain on revaluation of Investment Properties
A full, independent external valuation of the store portfolio is undertaken by
the Group on an annual basis for year-end reporting. A sample of the Group's
largest properties, representing approximately 30% of the value of the Group's
investment property portfolio, has been valued by the Group's external
valuers, Cushman & Wakefield LLP ("C&W") as at 30 April 2025. In
addition, at the same date, the Directors have prepared estimates of fair
values for the remaining approximately 70% of the Group's investment property
portfolio by updating 31 October 2024 valuations to incorporate latest trading
performance.
As a result of this exercise, the net gain on investment properties during the
half year was as follows.
H1 2025 H1 2024
£'m £'m
Gain on revaluation of investment properties 21.1 129.5
Gain/(Loss) on revaluation of investment properties under construction 33.5 (3.4)
Fair value re-measurement of lease liabilities (5.1) (4.4)
Gain on revaluation of investment properties 49.5 121.7
The movement on investment properties reflects the increased value of the
Group's store portfolio primarily as the Group continues to benefit from the
development pipeline continuing to be built out particularly in expansion
markets.
UK Paris Exp'n Markets Total IP Paris Exp'n Markets
£'m £'m £'m £'m €'m €'m
Value of IP as at 1 November 2024 2,144.4 627.1 281.3 3,052.8 747.0 334.8
Developments and Acquisitions 36.7 16.5 37.6 90.8 19.6 44.9
Disposals - - - - - -
Revaluation (6.0) 4.8 22.3 21.1 5.7 26.6
FX 8.1 4.3 12.4
Value of IP as at 30 April 2025 2,175.1 656.5 345.5 3,177.1 772.3 406.3
IP Under Construction ("IPUC") 76.3 47.4 9.3 133.0 55.7 10.8
IP and IPUC 2,251.4 703.9 354.8 3,310.1 828.0 417.0
IP Lease Liabilities 74.8 17.6 10.5 102.9 20.8 12.3
Total as at 30 April 2025 2,326.2 721.5 365.3 3,413.0 848.8 429.3
Property Valuation £'m (including Investment Properties under construction),
before lease liabilities
The above tables summarise the movement in the valuations of the Group's
investment property portfolio including investment properties under
construction.
The Group's property portfolio valuation, including investment properties
under construction, increased by £126.6 million, which includes the gain on
valuation of £54.6 million and £58.9 million relating to additions and store
refurbishments.
The exchange rate at 30 April 2025 was €1.176:£1 compared to €1.191:£1
at 31 October 2024. This movement in the foreign exchange rate has resulted in
a £13.1 million favourable currency translation movement in the value of our
investment properties in the half year.
Average freehold exit yield reduced to 4.99% at the half year (FY 2024:
5.19%), alongside discount rates for future cash flows reducing to 8.45% (FY
2024: 8.66%).
Operating profit
Reported operating profit decreased by £73.4 million from £186.3 million for
H1 2024 to £112.9 million for H1 2025, primarily reflecting a decrease in the
fair value gain on investment property.
Net finance costs
Net finance costs include interest payable, interest on obligations under
lease labilities, fair value movements on derivatives, exchange gains or
losses, unwinding of discounts and exceptional finance income. Net finance
costs increased by £3.3 million to £15.9 million in H1 2025 (H1 2024: £12.6
million). The main driver of the decrease was net bank interest payable
reflecting the Group's additional borrowings to fund the Group's acquisition
and development activity.
H1 2025 H1 2024
£'m £'m
Other interest received 0.3 0.3
Total finance income 0.3 0.3
Net bank interest payable (15.4) (12.6)
Capitalised interest on developments 2.8 3.2
Amortisation of debt issuance costs on bank loans (0.7) (0.6)
Underlying finance costs (13.3) (10.0)
Interest on lease liabilities (2.9) (2.9)
Total finance costs (16.2) (12.9)
Net finance costs (15.9) (12.6)
The underlying finance costs represent the finance expense before interest on
obligations under lease liabilities, changes in fair value of derivatives and
exceptional items and is disclosed because management reviews and monitors
performance of the business on this basis.
The underlying finance costs (reflecting revolving credit facility ("RCF") and
US Private Placement ("USPP") interest costs and the amortisation of
capitalised debt issuance costs less interest capitalised in development
costs) increased by £3.3 million to £13.3 million (H1 2024: £10.0 million).
Net interest on borrowings increased £3.6 million year on year due to on
higher average borrowings from financing our development programme. Partially
offsetting this was £0.7 million from the reduction in the average interest
rate charged with £0.4 million lower interest capitalised on store
developments.
The movement in underlying finance costs can be summarised as follows:
Non-underlying finance charge
Interest on finance leases was £2.9 million (H1 2024: £2.9 million) and
reflects part of the leasehold rental payment. The balance of the leasehold
payment is charged through the gain or loss on investment properties line and
variable lease payments in the income statement. Overall, the leasehold rent
charge increased by £0.3 million to £8.0 million in H1 2025 (H1 2024: £7.7
million).
The Group undertakes net investment hedge accounting for its Euro denominated
borrowings reflecting the natural currency hedge against Euro denominated
assets.
Tax
The tax charge for the half year is analysed below:
Tax charge H1 2025 H1 2024
£'m £'m
Underlying current tax losses (1.8) (2.6)
Current tax charge (1.8) (2.6)
Tax on investment properties movement (15.5) (13.8)
Adjustment in respect of prior years - 0.4
Losses in respect of current year (0.4) (0.9)
Deferred tax charge (15.9) (14.3)
Net tax charge (17.7) (16.9)
Income tax in the period was a net charge of £17.7 million (H1 2024: £16.9
million).
In the UK, the Group is a REIT, so the current tax charge relates to the Paris
and Spain businesses. The underlying current tax charge for the period
amounted to £1.8 million (H1 2024: £2.6 million).
Profit after tax
The profit after tax for the period was £79.3 million, compared with £156.8
million in H1 2024, a decrease of £77.5 million which arose principally due
to the increased gain on investment properties, which is explained above.
Earnings per Share
Basic EPS was 36.3 pence (H1 2024: 71.8 pence) and diluted EPS was 36.1 pence
(H1 2024: 71.5 pence). As explained in note 2 to the financial statements,
management considers adjusted diluted EPRA EPS to be more representative of
the underlying EPS performance of the business
Adjusted Diluted EPRA EPS is based on the European Public Real Estate
Association's ("EPRA") definition of earnings and is defined as profit or loss
for the period after tax excluding corporate transaction costs, changes in
fair value of derivatives, gain/loss on the fair value of investment
properties and the associated tax impacts. The Company then makes further
adjustments for the impact of exceptional items, IFRS 2 share-based payment
charges, exceptional tax items and deferred tax charges. This adjusted
earnings figure is divided by the diluted number of shares. The IFRS 2 cost is
excluded as it is written back to distributable reserves and is a non-cash
item (with the exception of the associated National Insurance element).
Therefore, neither the Company's ability to distribute nor pay dividends is
impacted (with the exception of the associated National Insurance element).
The financial statements disclose earnings on a statutory, EPRA and Adjusted
Diluted EPRA basis and provide a full reconciliation of the differences in the
financial year in which any Long Term Incentive Plan ("LTIP") awards may vest.
Management introduced Adjusted Diluted EPRA EPS as a measure of EPS following
the implementation of the Group's LTIP schemes. Management considers that the
real cost to existing shareholders from such schemes is the dilution that they
will experience on the granting of shares. Therefore, earnings has been
adjusted for the IFRS 2 share-based payment charge and the number of shares
used in the EPS calculation has also been adjusted for the dilutive effect of
the LTIP schemes.
Adjusted Diluted EPRA EPS for the half year was 19.0 pence (FY 2024: 21.2
pence), calculated on a pro forma basis, as if the dilutive LTIP shares were
in issue throughout both the current and prior years, as follows:
H1 2025 H1 2024
Earnings Shares Pence Earnings Shares Pence
£'m million per share £'m million per share
Basic earnings 79.3 218.4 36.3 156.8 71.8
218.3
Adjustments:
Gain on investment properties (49.5) - (22.7) (121.7) - (55.7)
Tax on adjustments/exceptional tax 15.4 - 7.1 13.7 - 6.3
Adjusted 45.2 218.4 20.7 48.8 218.3 22.4
EPRA adjusted:
Fair value re-measurement of lease liabilities add-back (5.1) - (2.3) (4.4) - (2.0)
Tax on lease liabilities add-back adjustment 0.5 - 0.2 0.6 - 0.3
EPRA basic EPS 40.6 218.4 18.6 45.0 218.3 20.7
Share-based payments charge 1.2 - 0.5 1.4 - 0.6
Dilutive shares - 1.3 (0.1) - 1.0 (0.1)
Adjusted Diluted EPRA EPS 41.8 219.7 19.0 46.4 219.3 21.2
The EPRA basic NTA per share, as reconciled to IFRS net assets per share in
financial statements, was 1,117 pence at 30 April 2025, up 11.3% since 30
April 2024 (1,003 pence), up 2.4% since 31 October 2024 (1,091 pence) and the
IFRS reported diluted NAV per share was 1,032 pence (H1 2024: 930 pence), (FY
2024: 1,017 pence) reflecting the revaluation gains on investment properties
and the value created through developments.
Gearing, and Capital Structure
The Group finances its activities through a combination of equity and
borrowings. As at 30 April 2025, the Group's borrowings comprise bank
borrowing facilities, made up of a Revolving Credit Facility "RCF", together
with US Private Placement notes "USPPs".
The drawn debt position as at 30 April 2025 is analysed as follows:
Facility Fixed-rate borrowings Floating-rate borrowings Total rate
£/€'m £'m £'m
RCF - GBP drawn £500.0 £159.0 5.85%
RCF - EUR drawn £233.8 3.98%
RCF - non-utilisation £107.2 0.42%
USPP 2026 (October) €70.0 £59.5 1.26%
USPP 2026 (October) £35.0 £35.0 2.59%
USPP 2027 €74.1 £63.0 2.00%
USPP 2028 £20.0 £20.0 1.96%
USPP 2028 €29.0 £24.7 0.93%
USPP 2029 £50.5 £50.5 2.92%
USPP 2029 £30.0 £30.0 2.69%
USPP 2029 €105.0 £89.3 2.45%
USPP 2031 £80.0 £80.0 2.39%
USPP 2033 €29.0 £24.7 1.42%
USPP 2032 €70.0 £59.4 4.03%
Unamortised finance costs (£4.5)
Total 1,036.2 531.6 392.8 3.60%
The debt repayment schedule can be summarised as follows ('£'m)
There are no debt maturities before October 2026.
As at 30 April 2025, £392.8 million of the £500.0 million RCF was drawn,
split £159 million and €275 million (£233.8 million).
The Group pays interest on the RCF at an initial margin of 125bps plus SONIA
or Euribor. The margin payable is linked to certain ESG targets, which
continue to be achieved, enabling a reduction in the margin by 5bps to 120bps.
In addition, the Group pays a non-utilisation fee of 0.42% on the undrawn
facility balance.
USPPs are denominated in Euros and Sterling and incur fixed rates of interest.
As at 30 April 2025, 58% of the Group's drawn debt is at fixed rates of
interest. Overall, the Group has an effective interest rate on its borrowings
of 3.6% as at 30 April 2025, compared with 4.0% at previous year end.
The €652.1 million of Euro denominated borrowings provide a natural hedge
against the Group's investment in the Paris and Expansion Markets businesses.
Net debt (including finance leases and cash) stood at £1,010.5 million as at
30 April 2025 (an increase of £111.0 million from FY 2024). The movement was
principally due to the EasyBox acquisition in Italy along with the increased
funding required for store acquisitions and developments.
Management also measures leverage with reference to its loan to value ("LTV")
ratio defined as net debt (excluding lease liabilities) as a proportion of the
valuation of investment properties (excluding finance leases), including
investment properties under construction. As at 30 April 2025, the Group LTV
ratio was 27.4% compared with 25.1% as at FY 2024 and 25.7% at HY 2024.
The Board considers the current level of gearing is appropriate for the
business to enable the Group to increase returns on equity, maintain financial
flexibility and to achieve our medium-term strategic objectives.
As at 30 April 2025, £392.8 million of the £500.0 million UK revolver was
drawn. Including the USPP debt of €377.1 million (£320.6 million) and
£215.5 million, the Group's borrowings totalled £924.4 million (after
adjustment for unamortised finance costs). As at 30 April 2025, the weighted
average remaining term for the Group's committed borrowing facilities is 4.0
years.
Borrowings under the existing loan facilities are subject to certain financial
covenants. The RCF and the USPP's share interest cover and LTV covenants. The
interest cover requirement of a minimum of EBITDA to interest ratio of
2.4:1. Interest cover for H1 2025 was 3.9 times, calculated on the basis
required under our financial covenants. The Group's LTV of 27.4% comfortably
achieves the 60% LTV covenant.
Going Concern
The Group is in compliance with its covenants at 30 April 2025 and, based on
forecast projections (which considered a number of factors, including the
current balance sheet position, the risks which could impact the performance
of the Group, and the Group's strategic and financial plan), is expected to be
in compliance and have ample liquidity for a period in excess of twelve months
from the date of this report and accordingly, this interim financial statement
is prepared on the basis of going concern. For further information refer to
note 2 below.
Cash flow
The table below sets out the cash flow of the business in H1 2025 and H1 2024.
H1 2025 H1 2024
£'m £'m
Underlying EBITDA 66.1 67.1
Working capital/ exceptionals/ other (6.0) (6.3)
Adjusted operating cash inflow 60.1 60.8
Interest payments (14.4) (9.0)
Leasehold payments (8.0) (7.7)
Tax payments (1.6) (3.1)
Free cash flow (before investing and financing activities) 36.1 41.0
Investment in joint ventures and associates (36.8) -
Capital expenditure - investment properties (58.0) (56.7)
Capital expenditure - property, plant and equipment (1.1) (1.2)
Adjusted net cash flow after investing activities (59.8) (16.9)
Issues of share capital - 0.7
Dividends paid (39.5) (38.9)
Net drawdown of borrowings 90.0 52.4
Debt issuance costs (0.3) -
Net (decrease) in cash (9.6) (2.7)
Note: Free cash flow is a non-GAAP measure, defined as cash flow before
investing and financing activities but after leasehold rent payments.
Adjusted operating cash flow of £60.1 million in H1 2025 decreased by £0.7
million vs H1 2024.
Interest payments increased compared to the prior year as a result of the
additional borrowings to fund the capital expenditure on new stores. With
small increases in Leasehold payments and a reduction in Tax payments, Free
Cash Flow was down 12.0%, £36.1 million (H1 2024: £41.0 million).
In the half, we invested £59.1 million (H1 2024: net outflow of £57.9
million) on capital expenditure, principally on the development of new stores.
We invested a further £36.8 million in joint ventures and associates
primarily as a result of our entry into the Italian market.
Dividends paid to shareholders were £39.5 million H1 2025 (£38.9 million H1
2024), and the Group drew a net £90.0 million of borrowings, to finance
capital expenditure.
The first table below reconciles free cash flow (before investing and
financing activities) in the table above to net cash inflow from operating
activities in the consolidated cash flow statement.
The second table below reconciles adjusted net cash flow after investing
activities in the table above to the consolidated cash flow statement.
H1 2025 H1 2024
£'m £'m
Free cash flow (before investing and financing activities) 36.1 41.0
Addback: Finance lease principal payments 5.1 4.4
Net cash inflow from operating activities 41.2 45.4
H1 2025 H1 2024
£'m £'m
Adjusted net cash flow after investing activities (59.8) (16.9)
Addback: Finance lease principal payments 5.1 4.4
Net cash outflow after investing activities (54.7) (12.5)
From consolidated cash flow:
Net cash inflow from operating activities 41.2 45.4
Net cash outflow from investing activities (95.9) (57.9)
Net cash outflow after investing activities (54.7) (12.5)
Dividends
The Board has announced an interim dividend of 10.1 pence per share. This will
amount to a dividend payment of £22.1 million (H1 2024: £21.8 million). The
dividend will be paid on 7 August 2025 with the record date of 4 July 2025 and
an ex-dividend date of 3 July 2025. 25% (H1 2024: 25%) of the dividend will be
paid as a REIT Property Income Distribution ("PID").
Consolidated income statement
for the half year ended 30 April 2025 (unaudited)
Half year Half year
ended
ended
30 April
30 April
2025
2024
(unaudited) (unaudited)
Note £'m £'m
Revenue 4,5 112.8 109.2
Cost of sales (38.9) (35.7)
Gross profit 73.9 73.5
Administrative expenses (10.4) (8.9)
Share of loss in joint ventures and associates 11, 12 (0.1) -
Operating profit before gains on investment properties 63.4 64.6
Gain on revaluation of investment properties 13 49.5 121.7
Operating profit 5 112.9 186.3
Finance income 6 0.3 0.3
Finance expense 6 (16.2) (12.9)
Profit before income tax 97.0 173.7
Income tax charge 7 (17.7) (16.9)
Profit for the period 79.3 156.8
Earnings per share for profit attributable to the equity holders
- basic (pence) 10 36.3 71.8
- diluted (pence) 10 36.1 71.5
The financial results for both periods relate to continuing operations.
Consolidated statement of comprehensive income
for the half year ended 30 April 2025 (unaudited)
Half year Half year
ended
ended
30 April
30 April
2025
2024
(unaudited) (unaudited)
£'m £'m
Profit for the period 79.3 156.8
Other comprehensive income:
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit and loss:
Currency translation differences 9.3 (11.4)
Net investment hedge (6.0) 3.0
Total other comprehensive (expense)/income net of tax 3.3 (8.4)
Total comprehensive income for the period 82.6 148.4
Consolidated balance sheet
as at 30 April 2025 (unaudited) 30 April 30 April 31 October
2025
2024
2024
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
Note £'m £'m £'m
Assets
Non-current assets
Investment in associates 11 6.3 4.1 6.6
Investment in joint ventures 12 37.8 - -
Investment Properties 13 3,413.0 3,057.9 3,284.1
Property, plant and equipment 6.5 6.0 5.7
Deferred tax assets 9 5.9 6.1 6.3
3,469.5 3,074.1 3,302.7
Current assets
Inventories 0.4 0.4 0.4
Trade and other receivables 34.6 30.2 31.7
Current tax assets 0.3 0.3 1.0
Cash and cash equivalents 16.9 13.8 25.3
52.2 44.7 58.4
Total assets 3,521.7 3,118.8 3,361.1
Current liabilities
Borrowings 16 - (43.5) -
Trade and other payables (52.7) (48.2) (51.8)
Obligations under lease liabilities (14.5) (14.4) (14.0)
(67.2) (106.1) (65.8)
Non-current liabilities
Borrowings 16 (924.4) (727.7) (824.2)
Deferred tax liabilities 9 (173.0) (150.1) (155.4)
Obligations under lease liabilities (88.4) (90.9) (86.6)
Provisions 18 (2.3) (2.6) (2.3)
(1,188.1) (971.3) (1,068.5)
Total liabilities (1,255.3) (1,077.4) (1,134.3)
Net assets 15 2,266.4 2,041.4 2,226.8
Shareholders' equity
Ordinary shares 17 2.2 2.2 2.2
Share premium 62.7 62.7 62.7
Translation reserve 0.9 4.3 (2.4)
Retained earnings 2,200.6 1,972.2 2,164.3
Total equity 2,266.4 2,041.4 2,226.8
These financial statements were authorised for issue by the Board of Directors
on 09 June 2025 and signed on its behalf by:
S Clinton F Vecchioli
Chief Financial Officer Chief Executive Officer
Company registration number: 04726380
Consolidated statement of changes in shareholders' equity
for the half year ended 30 April 2025 (unaudited)
Condensed consolidated statement of changes in equity
for the half year ended 30 April 2025
Share Share Translation Retained Total
capital Premium reserve earnings equity
£'m £'m £'m £'m £'m
Balance at 1 November 2024 2.2 62.7 (2.4) 2,164.3 2,226.8
Profit for the period - - - 79.3 79.3
Other comprehensive income for the period - - 3.3 - 3.3
Total comprehensive income for the period - - 3.3 79.3 82.6
Transactions with owners in their capacity as owner:
Dividends (note 8) - - - (44.5) (44.5)
Increase in share capital - - - - -
Employee share options - - - 1.5 1.5
Balance at 30 April 2025 2.2 62.7 0.9 2,200.6 2,266.4
Condensed consolidated statement of changes in equity
for the half year ended 30 April 2024
Share Share Translation Retained Total
capital Premium reserve earnings equity
£'m £'m £'m £'m £'m
Balance at 1 November 2023 2.2 62.0 12.7 1,858.2 1,935.1
Profit for the period - - - 156.8 156.8
Other comprehensive income for the period - - (8.4) - (8.4)
Total comprehensive income for the period - - (8.4) 156.8 148.4
Transactions with owners in their capacity as owner:
Dividends (note 8) - - - (44.1) (44.1)
Increase in share capital - 0.7 - - 0.7
Employee share options - - - 1.3 1.3
Balance at 30 April 2024 2.2 62.7 4.3 1,972.2 2,041.4
Consolidated cash flow statement
for the half year ended 30 April 2025 (unaudited)
Half year Half year
ended
ended
30 April
30 April
2025
2024
(unaudited) (unaudited)
Note £'m £'m
Profit before income tax 97.0 173.7
Gain on the revaluation of investment properties (49.5) (121.7)
Share of loss in joint ventures and associates 0.1 -
Depreciation 0.8 0.7
Net finance expense 15.9 12.6
Employee share options 1.4 1.3
(Increase)/decrease in trade and other receivables (2.4) 2.6
(Decrease) in trade and other payables (3.2) (8.8)
Cash flows from operating activities 60.1 60.4
Interest received 0.3 0.3
Interest paid (17.6) (12.2)
Tax paid (1.6) (3.1)
Net cash inflow from operating activities 41.2 45.4
Cash flows from investing activities
Investment in associates 12 (36.8) -
Expenditure on investment and development properties 13 (58.0) (56.7)
Purchase of property, plant and equipment (1.1) (1.2)
Net cash (outflow) from investing activities (95.9) (57.9)
Cash flows from financing activities
Issue of share capital - 0.7
Equity dividends paid (39.5) (38.9)
Proceeds from borrowings 90.0 52.4
Debt issuance costs (0.3) -
Principal payment of lease liabilities (5.1) (4.4)
Net cash inflow from financing activities 45.1 9.8
Net (decrease) / increase in cash and cash equivalents (9.6) (2.7)
Exchange loss on cash and cash equivalents 1.2 (0.4)
Opening cash and cash equivalents 25.3 16.9
Closing cash and cash equivalents 16.9 13.8
Notes to the financial statements
for the half year ended 30 April 2025
1. General Information
The Company is a public limited company incorporated and domiciled in the UK.
The address of its registered office is Brittanic House, Stirling Way,
Borehamwood, Hertfordshire WD6 2BT.
The Company is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
The interim report was approved for issue on 9 June 2025.
This condensed consolidated interim financial information does not comprise
statutory accounts within the meaning of section 434 of the Companies Act
2006. The full accounts of Safestore Holdings plc for the year ended 31
October 2024, which received an unqualified report from the auditor, and did
not contain a statement under S.498(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006, were
filed with the Registrar of Companies on 17 April 2025.This condensed
consolidated interim financial information for 30 April 2025 and 30 April 2024
is unaudited. The interim financial information for 30 April 2025 has been
reviewed by the auditor and their independent Review report is included within
this financial information.
2. Basis of preparation
The condensed consolidated interim financial information for the half year
ended 30 April 2025 has been prepared in accordance with the Disclosure and
Transparency Rules of the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority and
with United Kingdom adopted International Accounting Standard 34 'Interim
Financial Reporting' (IAS 34). The interim financial information for 30 April
2025 has been reviewed by the auditor and their Independent Review report is
included within this financial information.
The Directors are satisfied that the Group has sufficient resources to
continue in operation for the foreseeable future, a period of not less than
twelve months from the date of this report. Accordingly, they continue to
adopt the going concern basis in preparing this consolidated financial
information.
In assessing the Group's going concern position as at 30 April 2025, the
Directors have considered a number of factors, including the current balance
sheet position, the principal and emerging risks which could impact the
performance of the Group and the Group's strategic and financial plan.
Consideration has been given to compliance with borrowing covenants along with
the uncertainty inherent in future financial forecasts. The Directors
considered the most recent three-year financial plans approved by the Board,
in particular the projections for the period to 30 April 2028. In the context
of the current environment, plausible downside scenarios were applied to the
plan, including a reverse stress test scenario. These scenarios are
differentiated by the impact of lower demand levels, lower average rate growth
and what level of cost savings is reasonable. A scenario was also performed
where we carried out a reverse stress test to model what would be required to
breach ICR and LTV covenants, which indicated highly improbable changes would
be needed before any issues were to arise. The impact of the downside
scenarios has been reviewed against the Group's projected cash flow position
and financial covenants over a three-year period. Should any of these
scenarios occur, clear mitigating actions are available to ensure that the
Group remains liquid and able to meet its liabilities as they fall due. The
financial position of the Group, including details of its financing and
capital structure, is set out in the financial review section of this report.
Further details of the Group's viability statement is included in page 40 of
the Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 October 2024.
Non-GAAP financial information/Alternative Performance Measures
The Directors have identified certain measures that they believe will assist
the understanding of the performance of the business. The measures are not
defined under IFRS and they may not be directly comparable with other
companies' adjusted measures. The non-GAAP/Alternative Performance Measures
are not intended to be a substitute for, or superior to, any IFRS measures of
performance but they have been included as the Directors consider them to be
important comparables and key measures used within the business for assessing
performance. The following are the key non-GAAP/Alternative Performance
Measures identified by the Group:
• The Group defines exceptional items to be those that warrant, by
virtue of their nature, size or frequency, separate disclosure on the face of
the income statement where, in the opinion of the Directors, this enhances the
understanding of the Group's financial performance.
• Underlying EBITDA is an Alternative Performance Measure and is
defined as operating profit before exceptional items, share-based payments,
corporate transaction costs, gain/loss on investment properties, depreciation
and variable lease payments and the share of associate's depreciation,
interest and tax. Management considers this presentation to be representative
of the underlying performance of the business, as it removes the income
statement impact of items not fully controllable by management, such as the
revaluation of derivatives and investment properties, and the impact of
exceptional credits, costs and finance charges. A reconciliation of statutory
operating profit to Underlying EBITDA can be found in the financial review of
this announcement.
• Adjusted Diluted EPRA Earnings per Share is based on the European
Public Real Estate Association's definition of earnings and is defined as
profit or loss for the period after tax but excluding corporate transaction
costs, change in fair value of derivatives, gain/loss on investment properties
and the associated tax impacts. The Company then makes further
company-specific adjustments for the impact of exceptional items, net exchange
gains/losses recognised in net finance costs, exceptional tax items, and
deferred and current tax in respect of these adjustments. The Company also
adjusts for IFRS 2 share-based payment charges. This adjusted earnings is
divided by the diluted number of shares. The IFRS 2 cost is excluded as it is
written back to distributable reserves and is a non-cash item (with the
exception of the associated National Insurance element). Therefore, neither
the Company's ability to distribute nor pay dividends are impacted (with the
exception of the associated National Insurance element). The financial
statements disclose earnings on a statutory, EPRA and Adjusted Diluted EPRA
basis and will provide a full reconciliation of the differences in the
financial year in which any LTIP awards may vest. A reconciliation of
statutory basic Earnings per Share to Adjusted Diluted EPRA Earnings per Share
can be found in note 10.
• EPRA's Best Practices Recommendations guidelines for Net Asset Value
("NAV") metrics are EPRA Net Tangible Assets ("NTA"), EPRA Net Reinstatement
Value ("NRV") and EPRA Net Disposal Value ("NDV"). EPRA NTA is considered to
be the most relevant measure for the Group's business which provides
sustainable long term progressive returns and is now the primary measure of
net assets. The basis of calculation, including a reconciliation to reported
net assets, is set out in note 15.
• Like-for-like figures are presented to aid in the comparability of
the underlying business as they exclude the impact on results of purchased,
sold, opened or closed stores.
• Constant exchange rate ("CER") figures are provided in order to
present results on a more comparable basis, removing foreign exchange
movements.
Forward-looking statements
Certain statements in this preliminary announcement are forward-looking.
Although the Group believes that the expectations reflected in these
forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that these
expectations will prove to have been correct.
Because these statements involve risks and uncertainties, actual results may
differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking
statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
3. Accounting policies
The condensed consolidated interim financial information has been prepared on
the basis of the accounting policies expected to apply for the financial year
to 31 October 2025 and the same as applied for the Group's Financial
Statements for the Full Year October 2024 applicable to companies under IFRS.
An additional accounting policy relating to joint ventures has been included
below.
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted
accounting principles requires the use of certain critical accounting
estimates. It also requires management to exercise judgement in the process of
applying the Company's accounting policies. The areas involving a higher
degree of judgement or complexity, or areas where assumptions and estimates
are significant to the condensed consolidated interim financial statements are
disclosed within the Group's accounting policies as disclosed in the IFRS
financial statements for the year ended 31 October 2024. There have been no
other significant changes in accounting estimates in the period.
The same accounting policies, presentation and methods of computation are
followed in the condensed set of financial statements as applied in the
Group's latest financial statements. The nature of the Critical Accounting
Judgements and Key Sources of Estimation Uncertainty applied in the condensed
financial statements have remained consistent with those applied in the
Group's latest annual audited financial statements.
Investment in joint ventures
A joint venture is an entity over which the joint control, through
participation in the financial and operating policy decisions of the investee.
Joint control is the contractually agreed sharing of control of an
arrangement, which exists only when decisions about the relevant activities
require unanimous consent of the parties sharing control. The results and
assets and liabilities of associates are incorporated in these financial
statements using the equity method of accounting except when classified as
held for sale. Investments in joint ventures are carried in the balance sheet
at cost as adjusted by post-acquisition changes in the Group's share of the
net assets of the joint venture, less any impairment in the value of
individual investments. Losses of a joint venture in excess of the Group's
interest in that joint venture (which includes any long term interests that,
in substance, form part of the Group's net investment in the joint venture)
are recognised only to the extent that the Group has incurred legal or
constructive obligations or made payments on behalf of the joint venture.
Where necessary, adjustments are made to the financial statements of joint
venture to bring the accounting policies used into line with those used by the
Group. Where a Group company transacts with a joint venture of the Group,
profits and losses are eliminated to the extent of the Group's interest in the
relevant joint venture. Losses may provide evidence of an impairment of the
asset transferred, in which case appropriate provision is made for impairment.
4. Revenue
Analysis of the Group's operating revenue can be found below:
Half year Half year
ended
ended
30 April
30 April
2025
2024
(unaudited) (unaudited)
£'m £'m
Self-storage income 94.4 91.6
Customer goods protection 12.7 12.0
Other non-storage income 5.7 5.6
Total revenue 112.8 109.2
5. Segmental analysis
The Group's revenue, profit before income tax and net assets are attributable
to one activity: the provision of self-storage accommodation and related
services. This is based on the Group's management and internal reporting
structure.
Safestore is organised and managed in three operating segments, based on
geographical areas, being the United Kingdom, Paris in France and Expansion
Markets (Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Italy). This change has
been made from the prior periods to reflect the importance of these five
markets in driving growth for the Group.
The chief operating decision maker, being the Executive Directors, assesses
the performance of the operating segments on the basis of Underlying EBITDA,
which is defined as operating profit before exceptional items, share-based
payments, corporate transaction costs, gain/loss on investment properties,
depreciation and variable lease payments, and the share of associate's
depreciation, interest and tax.
The operating profits and assets include items directly attributable to a
segment as well as those that can be allocated on a reasonable basis.
Half year ended 30 April 2025 UK Paris Expansion Markets Group
£'m £'m £'m £'m
Continuing operations
Revenue 81.2 21.4 10.2 112.8
Share of profit/(loss) in associates (0.2) - 0.1 (0.1)
Underlying EBITDA 47.1 13.9 5.1 66.1
Share-based payments (1.5) 0.3 - (1.2)
Variable lease payments and depreciation (0.7) (0.1) - (0.8)
Share of associate's depreciation, interest and tax (0.1) - (0.6) (0.7)
Operating profit before gain on revaluation of investment properties and other 44.8 14.1 4.5 63.4
exceptional gains
Gain/(loss) on investment properties (4.0) 27.7 25.8 49.5
Operating profit 40.8 41.8 30.3 112.9
Net finance expense (12.1) (1.5) (2.3) (15.9)
Profit before tax 28.7 40.3 28.0 97.0
Total investment properties 2,326.1 721.6 365.3 3,413.0
Half year ended 30 April 2024 re-presented UK Paris Expansion Markets Group
£'m £'m £'m £'m
Continuing operations
Revenue 79.4 21.6 8.2 109.2
Underlying EBITDA 50.0 13.6 3.5 67.1
Share-based payments (1.2) (0.2) - (1.4)
Variable lease payments and depreciation (1.0) (0.1) - (1.1)
Operating profit before gain on revaluation of investment properties and other 47.8 13.3 3.5 64.6
exceptional gains
Gain on investment properties 72.3 34.5 14.9 121.7
Operating profit 120.1 47.8 18.4 186.3
Net finance expense (8.9) (1.1) (2.6) (12.6)
Profit before tax 111.2 46.7 15.8 173.7
Total investment properties 2,109.6 644.6 303.7 3,057.9
Results for the UK segment for H1 2024 have been re-presented with the
inclusion of transactions between the Group and the German associate being
included in Expansion Markets. The impact is to lower Revenue by £0.3
million, Profit before tax by £0.3 million and Total assets by £0.3 million
within the UK segment and increase it by the same amounts in the Expansion
Markets segment.
Inter-segment transactions are entered into under the normal commercial terms
and conditions that would also be available to unrelated third parties. There
is no material impact from inter-segment transactions on the Group's results.
The segmental results exclude intercompany transactions.
6. Finance income and costs
Half year Half year
ended
ended
30 April
30 April
2025
2024
(unaudited) (unaudited)
£'m £'m
Finance income
Interest receivable from loan to associates 0.2 0.2
Other interest received 0.1 0.1
Underlying finance income 0.3 0.3
Total finance income 0.3 0.3
Finance costs
Interest payable on bank loans and overdrafts (12.6) (9.4)
Amortisation of debt issuance costs on bank loans (0.7) (0.6)
Underlying finance charges (13.3) (10.0)
Interest on obligations under lease liabilities (2.9) (2.9)
Total finance costs (16.2) (12.9)
Net finance costs (15.9) (12.6)
7. Income tax charge
Analysis of tax charge in the period:
Half year Half year
ended
ended
30 April
30 April
2025
2024
(unaudited) (unaudited)
£'m £'m
Current tax - current year (1.8) (2.6)
Deferred tax - current year (15.9) (14.7)
Deferred tax - prior year - 0.4
(15.9) (14.3)
Tax charge (17.7) (16.9)
The Group is a UK real estate investment trust ("REIT"). As a result, the
Group is exempt from UK corporation tax on the profits and gains from its
qualifying property rental business in the UK, providing it meets certain
conditions. Non-qualifying profits and gains of the Group remain subject to
corporation tax as normal. The Group monitors its compliance with the REIT
conditions. There have been no breaches of the conditions to date.
Taxation for other jurisdictions is calculated at the rates prevailing in the
respective jurisdictions.
8. Dividends per share
An interim dividend of 10.1 pence per ordinary share (April 2024: 10.0 pence)
has been declared. The ex-dividend date will be 3 July 2025 and the record
date 4 July 2025, with an intended payment date of 7 August 2025.
It is intended that 25% (30 April 2024: 25%) of the interim dividend of 10.1
pence per ordinary share 30 (April 2024: 10.0 pence) will be paid as a REIT
Property Income Distribution ("PID") net of withholding tax where appropriate.
The interim dividend, amounting to £22.1 million (30 April 2024: £21.8
million), has not been included as a liability at 30 April 2025. It will be
recognised in shareholders' equity in the year to 31 October 2025.
9. Deferred tax
As at As at As at
30 April
30 April
31 October 2024
2025
2024
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£'m £'m £'m
The amounts provided in the accounts are:
Revaluation of investment properties and tax depreciation (173.0) (150.1) (155.4)
Deferred tax liabilities (173.0) (150.1) (155.4)
Other timing differences 5.9 6.1 6.3
Deferred tax assets 5.9 6.1 6.3
Net deferred tax liability (167.1) (144.0) (149.1)
As at 30 April 2025, the Group had income losses of £32.9 million (30 April
2024: £32.7 million) and capital losses of £36.4 million (30 April 2024:
£36.4 million) in respect of its UK operations. All losses can be carried
forward indefinitely. A deferred tax asset has been recognised on £21.2
million of income tax losses
10. Earnings per Share
Basic Earnings per Share ("EPS") is calculated by dividing the profit
attributable to equity holders of the Company by the weighted average number
of ordinary shares in issue during the year excluding ordinary shares held as
treasury shares. Diluted EPS is calculated by adjusting the weighted average
number of ordinary shares to assume conversion of all dilutive potential
shares. The Company has one category of dilutive potential ordinary shares:
share options. For the share options, a calculation is performed to determine
the number of shares that could have been acquired at fair value (determined
as the average annual market price of the Company's shares) based on the
monetary value of the subscription rights attached to the outstanding share
options. The number of shares calculated as above is compared with the number
of shares that would have been issued assuming the exercise of the share
options.
Half year ended Half year ended
30 April 2025 30 April 2024
(unaudited) (unaudited)
Earnings Shares Pence Earnings Shares Pence
£'m million per share £'m million per share
Basic 79.3 218.4 36.3 156.8 218.3 71.8
Dilutive securities - 1.3 (0.2) - 1.0 (0.3)
Diluted 79.3 219.7 36.1 156.8 219.3 71.5
Adjusted Earnings per Share
Explanations related to the adjusted earnings measures adopted by the Group
are set out in note 2 under the heading, Non-GAAP financial
information/Alternative Performance Measures. Adjusted EPS represents profit
after tax adjusted for the valuation movement on investment properties,
exceptional items, change in fair value of derivatives, exchange gains/losses,
The Directors consider that these alternative measures provide useful
information on the performance of the Group. EPRA earnings and Earnings per
Share before non-recurring items, movements on revaluations of investment
properties and changes in the fair value of derivatives have been disclosed to
give a clearer understanding of the Group's underlying trading performance.
Half year ended 30 April 2025 Half year ended 30 April 2024
Earnings Shares Pence Earnings Shares Pence
£'m million per share £'m million per share
Basic 79.3 218.4 36.3 156.8 218.3 71.8
Adjustments:
Gain on revaluation of investment properties (49.5) - (22.7) (121.7) - (55.7)
Fair value re-measurement of investment properties lease liabilities (5.1) - (2.3) (4.4) - (2.0)
Tax on adjustments 15.9 - 7.3 14.3 - 6.6
Adjusted EPRA basic EPS 40.6 218.4 18.6 45.0 218.3 20.7
Share-based payments charge 1.2 - 0.5 1.4 - 0.6
Dilutive shares - 1.3 (0.1) - 1.0 (0.1)
Adjusted Diluted EPRA EPS1 41.8 219.7 19.0 46.4 219.3 21.2
Note 1:
Adjusted Diluted EPRA EPS is based on the European Public Real Estate
Association's definition of earnings and is defined as profit or loss for the
period after tax but excluding corporate transaction costs, change in fair
value of derivatives, gain/loss on investment properties and the associated
tax impacts. The Company then makes further adjustments for the impact of
exceptional items, IFRS 2 share-based payment charges, exceptional tax items,
and deferred tax charges. This adjusted earnings is divided by the diluted
number of shares. The IFRS 2 cost is excluded as it is written back to
distributable reserves and is a non-cash item (with the exception of the
associated National Insurance element). Therefore, neither the company's
ability to distribute nor pay dividends are impacted (with the exception of
the associated National Insurance element). The financial statements disclose
earnings both on a statutory, EPRA and Adjusted Diluted EPRA basis and will
provide a full reconciliation of the differences in the financial year in
which any LTIP awards may vest.
Gain on revaluation of investment properties includes the fair value
re-measurement of investment properties lease liabilities of £5.1 million (H1
2024: £4.4 million) and the related tax thereon of £0.5 million (H1 2024:
£0.6 million). As an industry standard measure, EPRA earnings is presented.
EPRA earnings of £40.6 million (H1 2024: £45.0 million) and EPRA Earnings
per Share of 18.6 pence (H1 2024: 20.7 pence) are calculated after further
adjusting for these items.
EPRA adjusted income statement (non-statutory) Half year ended 30 April 2025 Half year ended 30 April 2024 Movement
£'m £'m %
Revenue 112.8 109.2 3.3%
Underlying operating expenses (excluding depreciation and variable lease (47.3) (42.1) 12.4%
payments)
Share of joint venture's and associate's Underlying EBITDA 0.6 - -
Underlying EBITDA 66.1 67.1 (1.5%)
Share-based payments charge (1.2) (1.4) 14.3%
Depreciation and variable lease payments (0.8) (1.1) 27.3%
Operating profit before fair value re-measurement of investment properties 64.1 64.6 (0.8%)
Fair value re-measurement of investment property leases (5.1) (4.4) 16.1%
Operating profit 59.0 60.2 (2.0%)
Net financing costs (15.9) (12.6) 26.2%
Share of joint venture's and associate's finance charges and depreciation (0.7) - -
Profit before income tax 42.4 47.6 (10.9%)
Income tax (1.8) (2.6) (30.8%)
Profit for the year ("Adjusted EPRA basic earnings") 40.6 45.0 (9.8%)
Adjusted EPRA basic EPS 18.6 pence 20.6 pence (9.7%)
Underlying EBITDA of £66.1 million (H1 2024: £67.1 million) is an
Alternative Performance Measure and is defined as operating profit before
exceptional items, share-based payments, corporate transaction costs,
gain/loss on investment properties, depreciation and variable lease payments
and the share of associate's depreciation, interest and tax.
11. Investment in associates
As at As at As at
30 April
30 April
31 October 2024
2025
2024
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£'m £'m £'m
PBC Les Groues SAS 1.8 1.8 1.8
CERF II German Storage Topco S.a.r.l. 4.5 2.3 4.8
6.3 4.1 6.6
PBC Les Groues SAS
The Group has a 24.9% interest in PBC Les Groues SAS ("PBC"), a company
registered and operating in France. PBC is accounted for using the equity
method of accounting. PBC is the parent company of Nanterre FOCD 92, a company
also registered and operating in France, which is developing a new store as
part of a wider development programme located in Paris. The development
project is managed by its joint venture partners, therefore the Group has no
operational liability during this phase. During the current period there has
been no material investment in the company (30 April 2024: £nil). The
investment is considered immaterial relative to the Group's underlying
operations. The aggregate carrying value of the Group's interest in PBC was
£1.8 million (30 April 2024: £1.8 million), The Group's share of profits
from continuing operations for the period was £nil (30 April 2024: £nil).
The Group's share of total comprehensive income of associates for the period
was £nil (30 April 2024: £nil).
CERF II German Storage Topco S.a.r.l.
On 1 December 2022 the Group acquired a 10.0% interest in CERF II German
Storage Topco S.a.r.l. "CERF II", a company registered in Luxembourg for which
the Group has board representation. The reporting date of the financial
statements for the company is 31 December. CERF II is accounted for using the
equity method of accounting. Safestore entered the German Self - Storage
market via a new investment with Carlyle which acquired the myStorage
business. The aggregate carrying value of the Group's interest in CERF II was
£4.5 million (30 April 2024: £2.3 million). The Group's share of losses from
continuing operations for the period was (£0.2) million (30 April 2024:
£nil). The Group's share of total comprehensive loss of associates for the
period was £0.2 million (30 April 2024: £nil).
12. Investment in joint ventures
As at As at As at
30 April
30 April
31 October 2024
2025
2024
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£'m £'m £'m
At 1 November 2024 - - -
Additions 36.8 - -
Share of profit 0.2 - -
Exchange movements 0.8 - -
At 30 April 2025 37.8 - -
EasyBox
On 23 December 2024, the Group entered into a 50:50 joint venture with Nuveen
to acquire the EasyBox self-storage business in Italy. EasyBox has 11
operating stores and a further store under development which is due to open in
summer 2025. All the stores are located in key cities in Italy. The EasyBox
acquisition is accounted for using the equity method of accounting. The share
of profit of £0.2 million relates to the three months ending 31 March 2025.
13. Investment properties
Investment Investment properties Investment Total
properties, net of lease liabilities property investment
lease liabilities £'m under properties
£'m construction £'m
£'m
At 1 November 2024 3,052.8 100.6 130.7 3,284.1
Additions 13.1 9.0 45.8 67.9
Disposals - (1.9) - (1.9)
Reclassification at completed cost 77.7 - (77.7) -
Revaluations 21.1 - 33.5 54.6
Fair value re-measurement of investment properties lease liabilities - (5.1) - (5.1)
Exchange movements 12.4 0.3 0.7 13.4
At 30 April 2025 3,177.1 102.9 133.0 3,413.0
Investment Investment properties Investment Total
properties, net of lease liabilities property investment
lease liabilities £'m under properties
£'m construction £'m
£'m
At 1 November 2023 2681.1 101.2 108.6 2890.9
Additions 18.8 9.1 36.8 64.7
Disposals - - - -
Reclassifications 27.2 - (27.2) -
Revaluations 129.5 - (3.4) 126.1
Fair value re-measurement of lease liabilities - (4.4) - (4.4)
Exchange movements (17.8) (0.7) (0.9) (19.4)
At 30 April 2024 2,838.8 105.2 113.9 3,057.9
The Group acquired the freehold of the Plymouth, UK, property in January 2025.
This resulted in the disposal of lease liabilities with a carrying value of
£1.9 million.
The gain on revaluation of investment properties, net of lease liabilities
comprises:
Cost Revaluation Valuation
£'m on cost £'m
£'m
Freehold stores
At 1 November 2024 1,094.8 1,470.4 2,565.2
Movement in year 45.6 49.4 95.0
At 30 April 2025 1,140.4 1,519.8 2,660.2
Leasehold stores
At 1 November 2024 164.2 323.4 487.6
Movement in year 7.6 21.7 29.3
At 30 April 2025 171.8 345.1 516.9
All stores
At 1 November 2024 1,259.0 1,793.8 3,052.8
Movement in year 53.2 71.1 124.3
At 30 April 2025 1,312.2 1,864.9 3,177.1
Half year Half year
ended
ended
30 April 2025
30 April
£'m 2024
£'m
Revaluations of investment property and investment property under construction 54.6 126.1
Fair value re-measurement of investment properties lease liabilities (5.1) (4.4)
Gain on revaluation of investment properties 49.5 121.7
The gain on investment properties of £49.5 million (30 April 2024: £121.7
million) as disclosed in the consolidated income statement comprises a £54.6
million (30 April 2024: £126.1 million) revaluation gain on investment
properties, net of lease liabilities and investment properties under
construction less the fair value re-measurement of lease liabilities add-back
of £5.1 million (30 April 2024: £4.4 million).
The Group has classified investment property and investment property under
construction, held at fair value, within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy.
There were no transfers to or from Level 3 during the period. The fair
valuation exercise undertaken at 30 April 2025 is explained in note 14.
The fair value of investment property held by the Group classified as the
add-back of lease liabilities of £102.9 million (30 April 2024: £105.2
million) reflects expected cash flows (including rent reviews settled
that are expected to become payable). Accordingly, if a valuation obtained
for a property is net of all payments expected to be made, it will
be necessary to add-back any recognised lease liability, to arrive at the
carrying amount of the investment property using the fair value model under
IAS 40. The lease liability of £103.0 million (30 April 2024: £105.3
million) differs by £0.1 million (30 April 2024: £0.1 million) which relates
to the right-of-use asset classified as part of property, plant and equipment.
14. Valuations
External valuation
A sample of the Group's largest properties, representing 30% of the value of
the Group's investment property portfolio at 31 October 2024, has been valued
by the Group's external valuers, C&W, as at 30 April 2025. The valuation
has been carried out in accordance with the requirements of the RICS Valuation
- Global Standards which incorporate the International Valuation Standards
("IVS") and the RICS Valuation UK National Supplement (the "RICS Red Book")
edition current at 30 April 2025. The valuation of each of the investment
properties has been prepared on the basis of fair value as a fully equipped
operational entity, having regard to trading potential. The valuation has been
provided for accounts purposes and, as such, is a Regulated Purpose Valuation
as defined in the Red Book. In compliance with the disclosure requirements of
the Red Book, C&W has confirmed that:
· the member of the RICS who has been the signatory to the
valuations provided to the Group for the same purposes as previous valuations,
has done so since April 2020;
· C&W has been carrying out regular valuations for the same
purpose as this valuation on behalf of the Group since October 2006;
· C&W does not provide other significant professional or agency
services to the Group;
· The proportion of fees payable by the Group to C&W to the
total fee income of C&W's last financial year to 31 December 2024, was
less than 5%. We anticipate that the proportion of fees for the financial year
to 31 December 2025 will remain at less than 5%; and
· the fee payable to C&W is a fixed amount per property and is
not contingent on the appraised value.
Further details of the valuation carried out by C&W as at 31 October 2024,
including the valuation method and assumptions, are set out in note 12 to the
Group's annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 October
2024. This note should be read in conjunction with note 12 of the Group's
annual report.
Directors' valuation
In addition, at the same date, the Directors have prepared estimates of fair
values for the remaining 70% of the Group's investment property portfolio,
incorporating assumptions for estimated absorption, revenue growth and
capitalisation rates to reflect current market conditions and trading.
Assumptions
The key assumptions incorporated into both the external valuation and the
Directors' valuation, calculated on a weighted average basis across the entire
portfolio, are:
· Net operating income is based on projected revenue received less
projected operating costs together with a central administration charge of 6%
of the estimated annual revenue subject to a cap and collar. The initial net
operating income is calculated by estimating the net operating income in the
first twelve months following the valuation date.
· The net operating income in future years is calculated assuming
either straight line absorption from day one actual occupancy or variable
absorption over years one to four of the cash flow period, to an estimated
stabilised/mature occupancy level. In the valuations the assumed stabilised
occupancy level for the trading stores (both freeholds and all leaseholds)
open at 30 April 2025 averages 89.2% (31 October 2024: 90.9%). The projected
revenues and costs have been adjusted for estimated cost inflation and revenue
growth. The average time assumed for stores to trade at their maturity levels
is 15.6 months (31 October 2024: 12.1 months).
· The capitalisation rates applied to existing and future net cash
flows have been estimated by reference to underlying yields for industrial and
retail warehouse property, yields for other trading property types such as
student housing and hotels, bank base rates, ten year money rates, inflation
and the available evidence of transactions in the sector. The valuations
included in the accounts assume rental growth in future periods.
· The weighted average freehold exit yield on UK freeholds is 5.2%
(31 October 2024: 5.2%), on Paris freeholds is 5.2% (31 October 2024: 5.2%),
on Spain freeholds is 5.9% (31 October 2024: 5.5%), on the Netherlands
freeholds is 4.9% (31 October 2024: 5.0%) and on Belgium freeholds is 4.8% (31
October 2024: 4.8%). The weighted average freehold exit yield for all
freeholds adopted 5.2% (31 October 2024: 5.2%).
· The future net cash flow projections (including revenue growth
and cost inflation) have been discounted at a rate that reflects the risk
associated with each asset. The weighted average annual discount rate adopted
(for both freeholds and leaseholds) in the UK portfolio is 8.6% (31 October
2024: 8.8%) in the France portfolio is 8.5% (31 October 2024: 8.8%), in the
Spain portfolio is 9.1% (31 October 2024: 8.6%), in the Netherlands portfolio
is 8.3% (31 October 2024: 7.7%) and in the Belgium portfolio is 8.2% (31
October 2024: 8.1%). The weighted average annual discount rate adopted (for
both freeholds and all leaseholds) is 8.6% (31 October 2024: 8.6%).
· Purchaser's costs in the range of approximately 3.3% to 6.8% for
the UK, 8.0% for Paris and 3.9% for Spain have been assumed initially,
reflecting the progressive SDLT rates brought into force in March 2016 in the
UK, and sales plus purchaser's costs totalling approximately 5.3% to 8.8%
(UK), 10.0% (Paris) and 5.9% (Spain) are assumed on the notional sales in the
tenth year in relation to freehold and long leasehold stores.
All other factors being equal, higher net operating income would lead to an
increase in the valuation of a store and an increase in the capitalisation
rate or discount rate would result in a lower valuation, and vice versa.
Higher assumptions for stabilised occupancy, absorption rate, rental rate and
other revenue, and a lower assumption for operating costs, would result in an
increase in projected net operating income, and thus an increase in valuation.
As a result of these exercises, as at 30 April 2025, the Group's investment
property portfolio has been valued at £3,177.1 million (30 April 2024:
£2,838.8 million), and a revaluation gain of £49.5 million (30 April 2024:
£121.7 million) has been recognised in the income statement for the period.
A full external valuation of the Group's investment property portfolio will be
performed at 31 October 2025.
15. Net assets per share
EPRA's Best Practices Recommendations guidelines for Net Asset Value ("NAV")
metrics are EPRA Net Tangible Assets ("NTA"), EPRA Net Reinstatement Value
("NRV") and EPRA Net Disposal Value ("NDV").
EPRA NTA is considered to be the most relevant measure for the Group's
business which provides sustainable long term progressive returns and is now
the primary measure of net assets, replacing the previously reported EPRA NAV
metric. EPRA NTA assumes that entities buy and sell assets, thereby
crystallising certain levels of unavoidable deferred tax. Due to the Group's
REIT status, deferred tax is only provided at each balance sheet date on
properties outside the REIT regime. As a result, deferred taxes are excluded
from EPRA NTA for properties within the REIT regime. For properties outside of
the REIT regime, deferred tax is included to the extent that it is expected to
crystallise, based on the Group's track record and tax structuring.
There are no reconciling items between EPRA NTA and the previously reported
EPRA NAV metric. EPRA NTA is shown in the table below:
As at As at As at
30 April
30 April
31 October
2025
2024
2024
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
Analysis of net asset value £'m £'m £'m
Balance sheet net assets 2,266.4 2,041.4 2,226.8
Adjustments to exclude:
Deferred tax liabilities on the revaluation of investment properties 173.0 150.1 155.4
EPRA NTA 2,439.4 2,191.5 2,382.2
Basic net assets per share (pence) 1,038 935 1,020
EPRA basic NTA per share (pence) 1,117 1,003 1,091
Diluted net assets per share (pence) 1,032 930 1,017
EPRA diluted NTA per share (pence) 1,110 999 1,088
Number Number Number
Shares in issue 218,490,500 218,487,150 218,490,500
Adjustment for Employee Benefit Trust (treasury) shares (70,531) (75,814) (75,397)
IFRS/EPRA number of shares (basic) 218,419,969 218,411,336 218,415,103
Dilutive effect of Save As You Earn shares 155,022 223,328 7,769
Dilutive effect of Long Term Incentive Plan shares 1,124,919 800,311 567,621
IFRS/EPRA number of shares (diluted) 219,699,910 219,434,975 218,990,493
Basic net assets per share is shareholders' funds divided by the number of
shares at the year end. Diluted net assets per share is shareholders' funds
divided by the number of shares at the year end, adjusted for dilutive share
options of 1,279,941 shares (H1 2024:1,023,639 shares, FY 2024: 575,390). EPRA
diluted net assets per share excludes deferred tax liabilities arising on the
revaluation of investment properties. The EPRA NAV, which further excludes
fair value adjustments for debt and related derivatives net of deferred tax,
was £2,439.4 million (H1 2024: £2,191.5 million, FY 2024 £2,382.2 million),
giving EPRA NTA per share of 1,117 pence (H1 2024: 1,003 pence, FY 2024: 1,091
pence). The Directors consider that these alternative measures provide useful
information on the performance of the Group.
16. Financial liabilities - bank borrowings and notes
As at As at As at
30 April
30 April
31 October 2024
2025
2024
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
Non-current £'m £'m £'m
Borrowings:
Bank loans - RCF 392.8 254.6 355.7
USPP Notes 536.1 477.6 473.3
Debt issue costs (4.5) (4.5) (4.8)
924.4 727.7 824.2
Current
Borrowings:
USPP Notes - 43.5 -
- 43.5 -
As at 30 April 2025 the Group has US Private Placement Notes ("USPPs") of
€377.1 million (H1 2024: €307.1 million) which have maturities between
2026 and 2033 with fixed-rate coupons of between 0.93% and 4.03% and £215.5
million (H1 2024: £215.5 million) which have maturities between 2026 and 2031
with fixed-rate coupons of between 1.96% and 2.92%. The weighted average cost
of interest on the overall USPPs at 30 April 2025 was 2.36% per annum. In
addition the Group has arranged a Revolving Credit Facility ("RCF") with its
relationship banks. The RCF attracts a margin over SONIA/EURIBOR of between
1.25% and 2.50%, by reference to the Group's performance against its interest
cover covenant.
The €652.1 million of Euro denominated borrowings provides a natural hedge
against the Group's investment in the Paris and Expansion Markets businesses,
so the Group has applied net investment hedge accounting and the retranslation
of these borrowings is recognised directly in the translation reserve.
Bank loans and notes are stated after unamortised issue costs of £4.5 million
(H1 2024: £4.5 million).
Bank loans and unsecured notes are repayable as follows:
As at As at As at
30 April
30 April
31 October
2025
2024
2024
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£'m £'m £'m
Within one year - 43.5 -
Between one and two years 94.5 - 93.7
Between two and five years 670.3 457.3 630.9
After more than five years 164.1 274.9 104.4
Borrowings 928.9 775.7 829.0
Unamortised issue costs (4.5) (4.5) (4.8)
924.4 771.2 824.2
The effective interest rates at the balance sheet date were as follows:
As at As at As at
30 April
30 April
31 October
2025
2024
2024
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
RCF (£) Monthly, quarterly or six monthly SONIA plus 1.25% Monthly, quarterly or six monthly SONIA plus 1.25% Monthly, quarterly or six monthly SONIA plus 1.25%
RCF (€) Monthly, quarterly or six monthly EURIBOR plus 1.25% Monthly, quarterly or six monthly EURIBOR plus 1.25% Monthly, quarterly or six monthly EURIBOR plus 1.25%
Private placement notes (€) 2.24% 1.80% 1.83%
Private placement notes (£) 2.55% 2.55% 2.55%
In addition to the margin of 1.25%, the RCF also has ESG targets enabling a
reduction in the margin of up to 5bps to 1.20%. In the period these targets
were all met.
The carrying amounts of the Group's borrowings are denominated in the
following currencies:
As at As at As at
30 April
30 April
31 October
2025
2024
2024
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£'m £'m £'m
Sterling 374.5 426.5 464.5
Euros 554.4 349.2 364.5
928.9 775.7 829.0
The Group has the following undrawn committed borrowing facilities available
at 30 April 2025 in respect of which all conditions precedent had been met at
that date:
Floating rate
As at As at As at
30 April
30 April
31 October
2025
2024
2024
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£'m £'m £'m
Expiring beyond one year 107.2 245.4 144.3
17. Called up share capital
As at As at As at
30 April
30 April
31 October
2025
2024
2024
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
Called up, issued and fully paid £'m £'m £'m
218,490,500 (30 April 2024: 218,487,150) ordinary shares of 1p each 2.2 2.2 2.2
18. Provisions
In France, the basis on which property taxes have been assessed has been
challenged by the tax authority for financial years 2011 onwards. In November
2022, the French Supreme Court delivered a final judgement in respect of
litigation for years 2011 to 2013, which resulted in a partial success for the
Group. The Group is separately pursuing litigation in respect of years since
2013 and has lodged an appeal with the French administrative tribunal against
the issues included in assessments for 2013 onwards on which it was ultimately
unsuccessful in the French Supreme Court for the earlier years. A provision is
included in the consolidated financial accounts of £2.3 million at 30 April
2025 (31 October 2024: £2.3 million) to reflect the increased uncertainty
surrounding the likelihood of a successful outcome. Of the total provided,
£nil has been released in relation to the half year ended 30 April 2025
within cost of sales (Underlying EBITDA) (30 April 2024: £nil) within cost of
sales (Underlying EBITDA). The litigation is expected to be resolved over the
next few years.
It is possible that the French tax authority may appeal the decisions of the
French Court of Appeal in which the Group was successful to the French Supreme
Court. The maximum potential exposure in relation to these issues at 30 April
2025 is £0.8 million (31 October 2024: £0.8 million). No provision for any
further potential exposure has been recorded in the consolidated financial
statements since the Group believes it is more likely than not that a
successful outcome will be achieved, resulting in no additional liabilities
19. Contingent liabilities
The Group has a contingent liability in respect of property taxation in the
French subsidiary as disclosed in note 18.
20. Capital commitments
The Group had £46 million of capital commitments as at 30 April 2025 (31
October 2024: £119 million).
21. Related party transactions
The Group's shares are widely held. Transactions between the Company and its
subsidiaries, which are related parties, have been eliminated on consolidation
and are not disclosed in this note.
Transactions with PBC Les Groues SAS
As described in note 11, the Group has a 24.9% interest in PBC Les Groues SAS
("PBC"). During the period, the Group made no transactions with PBC (H1 2024:
£nil). The total amount invested is included as part of its non-current
investments in associates. The total amount outstanding at 30 April 2025
included within trade and other receivables was £nil (FY 2024: £nil).
Transactions with CERF II German Storage Topco S.a.r.l ("CERF II")
As described in note 11, the Group has a 10.0% interest in CERF II German
Storage Topco S.a.r.l ("CERF II"). During the period, the Group recharged
£0.2 million relating to management services. The balance outstanding at 30
April 2025 is £nil (FY 2024: £0.5 million).
Transactions with EasyBox
As described in note 12, the Group has a 50.0% interest in the EasyBox joint
venture. Safestore Italia .S.R.L. (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Group)
acts as property manager for the joint venture. In its capacity as property
manager, it incurs costs on behalf of the joint venture which are recharged.
Safestore Italia S.R.L also receives a management fee for acting as property
manager. £0.3 million has been charged at 30 April 2025 (H1 2024: N/A) for
management fee services. The total balance outstanding at 30 April 2025 is
£0.1 million (FY 2024: N/A).
Risk management
The delivery of our strategic objectives is dependent on effective risk
management. There are a number of potential risks and uncertainties which
could have a material impact on the Group's performance and could cause actual
results to differ materially from expected and historical results. Details of
the principal risks facing the Group were included on pages 34 to 38 of the
Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 October 2024, a
copy of which is available at www.safestore.com (http://www.safestore.com) ,
and include:
· Strategic risks
· Finance risk
· Treasury risk
· Property investment and development risk
· Valuation risk
· Occupancy risk
· Operational risk
· Regulatory compliance risk
· Marketing risk
· IT security/GDPR
· Brand and Reputational risk
· Geographical expansion
· Human resource risk
· Climate change related risk
The Company regularly assesses these risks together with the associated
mitigating factors listed in the 2024 Annual Report. The levels of activity in
the Group's markets and the level of financial liquidity and flexibility
continue to be the areas designated as appropriate for added management focus.
We continue to believe that our market leading position in the UK and Paris,
our strong brand and depth of management, as well as our retail expertise and
infrastructure, help mitigate the effects of fluctuations in the economy or
the housing market. Furthermore, the UK self-storage market remains immature
with little risk of supply outstripping demand in the medium term.
Our prudent approach on new stores reduces our dependence on the number of
non-trading investment properties in relation to the established and mature
stores that provide relatively stable and growing cash flow. The Board
regularly reviews the cash requirements of the business, including the
covenant position although given the nature of the product, customer base and
lack of working capital requirements, liquidity is not considered to be a
significant risk.
The Outlook section of this half yearly report provides a commentary
concerning the remainder of the financial year.
Statement of Directors' responsibilities for the half year ended 30 April 2025
The Directors confirm that, to the best of their knowledge, this condensed
consolidated interim financial information has been prepared in accordance
with IAS 34 as contained in the United Kingdom adopted IFRS and that the
interim management report includes a fair review of the information required
by DTR 4.2.4R, DTR 4.2.7R and DTR 4.2.8R, namely:
· the condensed set of financial statements gives a true and fair
view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of
Safestore Holdings plc, or the undertakings included in the consolidation;
· an indication of important events that have occurred during the
first six months of the financial year and their impact on the condensed set
of financial statements, and a description of the principal risks and
uncertainties for the remaining six months of the financial year; and
· material related-party transactions in the first six months and
any material changes in the related-party transactions described in the last
annual report.
A list of current Directors is maintained on the Safestore Holdings plc
website, www.safestore.com (http://www.safestore.com) .
The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the
Company's website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation
and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other
jurisdictions.
By order of the Board
Frederic Vecchioli Simon Clinton
09 June 2025 09 June 2025
Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer
INDEPENDENT REVIEW REPORT TO SAFESTORE HOLDINGS PLC
Conclusion
We have been engaged by the company to review the condensed set of financial
statements in the half-yearly financial report for the half year ended 30
April 2025 which comprises the consolidated income statement, the consolidated
balance sheet, the consolidated statement of changes in equity, the
consolidated cash flow statement, and related notes 1 to 21.
Based on our review, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to
believe that the condensed set of financial statements in the half-yearly
financial report for the half year ended 30 April 2025 is not prepared, in all
material respects, in accordance with the accounting policies the group
intends to use in preparing its next annual financial statements and the
Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of the United Kingdom's Financial
Conduct Authority.
Basis for Conclusion
We conducted our review in accordance with International Standard on Review
Engagements (UK) 2410 "Review of Interim Financial Information Performed by
the Independent Auditor of the Entity" issued by the Financial Reporting
Council for use in the United Kingdom (ISRE (UK) 2410). A review of interim
financial information consists of making inquiries, primarily of persons
responsible for financial and accounting matters, and applying analytical and
other review procedures. A review is substantially less in scope than an audit
conducted in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) and
consequently does not enable us to obtain assurance that we would become aware
of all significant matters that might be identified in an audit. Accordingly,
we do not express an audit opinion.
As disclosed in note 2, the annual financial statements of the group are
prepared in accordance with United Kingdom adopted international accounting
standards. The condensed set of financial statements included in this
half-yearly financial report has been prepared in accordance with United
Kingdom adopted International Accounting Standard 34, "Interim Financial
Reporting".
Conclusion Relating to Going Concern
Based on our review procedures, which are less extensive than those performed
in an audit as described in the Basis for Conclusion section of this report,
nothing has come to our attention to suggest that the directors have
inappropriately adopted the going concern basis of accounting or that the
directors have identified material uncertainties relating to going concern
that are not appropriately disclosed.
This Conclusion is based on the review procedures performed in accordance with
ISRE (UK) 2410; however future events or conditions may cause the entity to
cease to continue as a going concern.
Responsibilities of the directors
The directors are responsible for preparing the half-yearly financial report
in accordance with the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of the
United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority.
In preparing the half-yearly financial report, the directors are responsible
for assessing the group's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing
as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern
basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the
company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Auditor's Responsibilities for the review of the financial information
In reviewing the half-yearly financial report, we are responsible for
expressing to the company a conclusion on the condensed set of financial
statements in the half-yearly financial report. Our Conclusion, including our
Conclusion Relating to Going Concern, are based on procedures that are less
extensive than audit procedures, as described in the Basis for Conclusion
paragraph of this report.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the company in accordance with ISRE (UK) 2410.
Our work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company those
matters we are required to state to it in an independent review report and for
no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or
assume responsibility to anyone other than the company, for our review work,
for this report, or for the conclusions we have formed.
Deloitte LLP
Statutory Auditor
London, United Kingdom
09 June 2025
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