Investment property gain doubles Safestore profits

Safestore has more than doubled its pre-tax profits over the past year. The storage specialist, which has 161 sites in the UK and Europe, said 2021 had been a “record-breaking year of self-funded growth”, with profits for the year to the end of October rising to £404m from £198m in 2020. Much of the increase was due to the gain on investment properties of £194.6m to £321.1m. The property portfolio’s valuation, including investment properties under construction, increased over the year by 24% to reach £1.95bn – £1.47bn of which is in the UK. On a like-for-like basis, group revenue rose by 13.8%, while the UK arm rose by 16.8%. Occupancy now stands at a record 85%. The group’s immediate pipeline consists of seven new stores in London and the South East of England, two in Paris, three in Madrid and four in Barcelona, as well as two existing store extensions in the UK. Safestore said it had a total pipeline of 732,000 sq ft of additional space, with a capex of £96m. On the back of the results, the board has increased the final dividend by 38% from 12.7p to 17.6p per share. To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews