UK Self-Storage Operator Big Yellow Releases Results for 2022 Fiscal Year

U.K. self-storage operator Big Yellow Group PLC released financial results for its 2022 fiscal year, which ended March 31. The company reported same-store revenue of £162.9 million, up 7% year over year. Total revenue for the period was £188.8 million, a 10% increase from 2021. Same-store occupancy was 84%, down from 86%, while average rent per square foot increased 10% to £33.31.

“We are pleased to have delivered these results despite an increasingly familiar year of macroeconomic, political and geopolitical volatility,” said Nicholas Vetch, executive chairman. “Our pricing models to new and existing customers have successfully mitigated the impacts of higher inflation, delivering improved average achieved rents, which have been the main driver of revenue growth. Underpinning our resilience is our core strategy to invest significantly in the London market, which has seen the strongest performance, driven by both domestic and business customers, over the last year. We have also been successful in controlling overall increases in store operating expenses to 4% on a like-for-like basis, resulting in improved operating margins.”

Big Yellow added 193,000 square feet to its portfolio during the year with the opening of two London locations and the acquisition of an existing facility in Aberdeen, Scotland. It has 11 projects in various stages of development (nine in London) that will comprise approximately 900,000 square feet. Of those, seven have received planning approval.

Big Yellow Group operates 108 self-storage locations in the United Kingdom under the Big Yellow Self Storage and Armadillo brand names, with most concentrated in Greater London and Southeast England. Its total portfolio comprises 6.3 million rentable square feet.

Source: Big Yellow, Results For The Year Ended 31 March 2023