South Africa, UK Self-Storage Operator Stor-Age Posts Financial Results for Half-Year Ended Sept. 30

Stor-Age Property REIT, which operates self-storage facilities in South Africa and the United Kingdom, has released its earnings report for the first half of its fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. Property revenue grew 44.6 percent, while operating profit increased 52.4 percent year over year. Physical occupancy across the company’s portfolio was 83.8 percent at the end of the period, up from 83.1 percent.

“Intense operational focus and discipline at a property level proved successful in extracting occupancy and revenue growth,” officials said. “Our hands-on management approach across both markets remains critical to delivering outperformance. The [South Africa] portfolio continued to record solid occupancy gains and rental-rate growth despite increasing pressure on consumers and a stagnating economy.”

The company reported a closing occupancy of 83.7 percent for its South Africa properties and a record high 84.2 percent for those in the United Kingdom. Rental income for its total portfolio increased 39.5 percent during the period, with same-store rental income in South Africa growing 7 percent due to higher average occupancy and a 5.5 percent increase in average rental rate.

The company’s U.K. portfolio had a 3 percent increase in same-store rental income, driven primarily by occupancy growth. Closing rental rates in the region were up 1 percent year over year.

Stor-Age opened a new facility in Craighall, South Africa, during the period and has secured eight properties in the region estimated at more than 53,000 square meters of gross leasable area. It also has a new property under development in Sunningdale, South Africa, through a joint venture with real estate developer Garden Cities.

Stor-Age issued an interim dividend of 54.89 cents per share, a 7 percent increase. The company previously forecast an increase of up to 10 percent for its anticipated dividend at the close of the fiscal year.

Headquartered in Cape Town and established in 2006 by the Lucas family, Stor-Age operates a 66-property portfolio, primarily in four South African metropolitan areas, that comprises approximately 429,400 square meters. It’s the operator appointed by Stor-Age Property Fund Managers Pty. Ltd. to manage and market the property portfolio owned by Stor-Age Property Holdings Pty. Ltd., and was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in November 2015.

Source:
Stor-Age, Condensed Unaudited Consolidated Interim Results for the six months ended 30 September 2019