The five largest publicly traded, U.S.-based self-storage real estate investment trusts (REITs)—CubeSmart, Extra Space Storage Inc., Life Storage Inc., National Storage Affiliates Trust and Public Storage Inc.—have released financial statements for the quarter that ended Sept. 30. In general, the companies indicated gains in funds from operations (FFO), net operating income (NOI) and occupancy.

“Once again, we saw strong performance across our portfolio as our sophisticated systems and talented teammates continue to maximize the opportunities provided by favorable market conditions,” said Christopher P. Marr, president and CEO of CubeSmart. “The current fundamental backdrop positions us to end the year strong and head into next year on a positive note.”

Joe Saffire, CEO of Life Storage, expressed similar sentiments. “Operating fundamentals remain strong as we continue to enjoy record seasonal occupancy and robust pricing power. We continue to aggressively expand our footprint, having achieved a significant milestone during the quarter when we crossed the 1,000-store threshold. We have more than $1.7 billion of wholly owned acquisitions that have closed this year or are currently under contract.”

CubeSmart

CubeSmart reported FFO per share of $0.56 during the third quarter of 2021, up from $0.44 a year ago. Same-store NOI at its 507 facilities grew 21.1% year over year. The company attributed this to a 15.6% increase in revenue and a 3.9% increase in operating expenses. Same-store locations contributed 89.6% of property NOI during the quarter.

Same-store physical occupancy was 94.8% as of Sept. 30, up from 94.1% a year ago. The company’s total-owned portfolio, representing 545 facilities and comprising 39 million square feet of rentable space, had a physical occupancy of 93.4% at the end of the quarter.

CubeSmart acquired two wholly owned properties in Q3, in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, for $33 million. It also has five properties under contract in five states for $85.8 million. Those transactions are expected to close before Dec. 31. At quarter-end, the company had three joint-venture projects under construction to which it’s expected to contribute $73.7 million.

On July 27, the company declared a dividend of 34 cents per common share, which was equal to the previous quarter. The dividend was paid on Oct. 15 to common shareholders of record on Oct. 1.

CubeSmart owns or manages 1,251 self-storage facilities across the United States. Its operating portfolio comprises 86.8 million square feet.

Extra Space Storage Inc.

Same-store revenue and NOI at Extra Space increased 18.4% and 27.8%, respectively, compared to the same period in 2020. Core FFO, excluding adjustments for non-cash interest, was $1.85 per diluted share, a 41.2% increase over the previous year. Same-store occupancy was 96.7% as of Sept. 30 compared to 95.8% a year prior.

During the quarter, the company acquired 10 operating facilities and four properties at Certificate of Occupancy for approximately $198 million. It also purchased 10 facilities in conjunction with joint-venture partners for $133.6 million, to which it contributed $13.4 million.

Extra Space paid a quarterly dividend of $1.25 per common share, which was up from $1 the previous quarter. It was paid on Sept. 30 to common shareholders of record on Sept. 15.

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Extra Space owns or operates 2,054 self-storage properties in 41 states and Washington, D.C. The company’s properties comprise approximately 1.5 million units and 159 million square feet of rentable space.

Life Storage Inc.

Same-store revenue and NOI at Life Storage increased 17.4% and 24.3%, respectively, compared to 2020. FFO was $1.37, compared to $0.99 a year ago, while adjusted FFO for the quarter was also $1.37 per fully diluted common share, compared to $1.01.

Net income attributable to common shareholders for the third quarter was $70.3 million, or $0.89 per fully diluted share. For the same period in 2020, those numbers were $37.1 million and $0.52, respectively.

Same-store revenue for the company’s 531 wholly owned, stabilized facilities increased 17.4% year over year, impacted by an increase in average occupancy of 220 basis points and an 14.3% bump in rental rates. Overall occupancy as of Sept. 30 was 94.6%, up from 93.1% a year ago, with units renting for an average of $16.57 per square foot.

During the quarter, Life Storage acquired 29 facilities across 11 states for $336 million. The assets include seven each in Alabama and Georgia; three in Florida; two each in New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas; and one each in Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky and Ohio. At quarter-end, the company was under contract to acquire 33 properties across six states for $548.9 million.

Subsequent to quarter-end, the company approved a quarterly dividend of $0.86 per share on a post-split basis, which was up from $0.74 the previous quarter. It was paid on Oct. 26 to shareholders of record on Oct. 13.

Based in Buffalo, N.Y., Life Storage operates more than 1,000 self-storage facilities in 34. Its portfolio of owned and managed facilities comprises more than 74 million square feet.

National Storage Affiliates Trust (NSAT)

Core FFO per share was $0.57 during the third quarter, a 29.5% year-over-year increase. NSAT net income was $40.7 million, a 90.2% increase compared to the same period in 2020.

NSAT reported diluted earnings per share of $0.26 during the quarter. Same-store NOI was up 24.3%, driven primarily by an 18.4% increase in same-store revenue and partially offset by a 4.6% increase in same-store operating expenses.

As of Sept. 30, same-store occupancy was 96.2%, an increase of 450 basis points from a year ago. Average annualized rental revenue per occupied square foot for same-store facilities was $13.40 during the quarter compared to $12.02 in 2020.

During the quarter, NSAT acquired 76 properties for about $599.3 million, adding approximately 5.1 million rentable square feet and 35,644 units to the company portfolio.

On Aug. 25, the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per common share, which was up from $0.38 the previous quarter. It was paid on Sept. 30 to holders of record on Sept. 15.

Headquartered in Greenwood, Colo., NSAT is a self-administered and -managed REIT focused on the acquisition, operation and ownership of self-storage properties within the top 100 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The company has ownership interest in 940 storage facilities in 38 states and Puerto Rico. Its portfolio comprises approximately 60.4 million net rentable square feet. It's owned by its affiliate operators, who are contributing their interests in their self-storage assets over the next few years as their current mortgage debt matures.

Public Storage Inc.

Revenue for same-store facilities at Public Storage increased 14%, or $87.8 million, over the same quarter in 2020, primarily due to higher realized annual rent per available square foot and weighted average square foot occupancy. Operations costs for same-store facilities decreased 4.6%, or $8.5 million, compared to the previous year. This was attributed primarily to a 2.7% ($2 million) decrease in property-tax expense, a 8.4% ($2.6 million) decrease in onsite-manager payroll, and a 43.3% ($7 million) decrease in marketing expenses.

FFO was $3.61 per diluted common share, compared to $2.28 for the same period of 2020, marking a 58.3% increase. NOI increased $148.7 million, which was driven by a $96.2 million increase in same-store facilities and a $52.5 million increase from other non-stabilized stores.

During the quarter, Public Storage acquired 27 facilities across 13 states for $326.8 million. The properties comprise 2.2 million net rentable square feet. The company also completed one development project and various expansions in California, Florida and Texas, adding 700,000 net rentable square feet to its portfolio for $85.5 million.

The company reported a regular common quarterly dividend of $2 per common share, which was equal to the previous quarter. It also declared dividends with respect to various series of preferred shares. All the dividends are payable on Dec. 30 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 15.

Based in Glendale, Calif., Public Storage has interests in 2,678 self-storage facilities in 39 states, with approximately 186 million net rentable square feet.

Shurgard Self Storage

Shurgard Self Storage Europe SARL, the European affiliate of Public Storage, which owns a 35% interest, also released its third-quarter 2021 earnings.

Highlights include operating-revenue growth at constant exchange rate (CER) of 10.7% for the third quarter. Same-store revenue grew 9% using CER. All stores’ NOI increased 13.2%. Same-store NOI margin grew 1.8% to 70.7%. Adjusted earnings on the European Public Real Estate Association Index were €35.2 million for the quarter, up 9.7% using CER.

Of the seven European markets in which Shurgard operates, the United Kingdom showed the largest same-store, year-over-year revenue gain at 13.6% using CER. Denmark was second at 9.8%, followed by Belgium at 9.3%. Same-store locations in France and Germany performed the weakest, with revenue up 6.7% and 7.1%, respectively.

Shurgard has six new development projects scheduled to open this year and another five slated for 2022, along with several expansions. Spread across France, Germany, the Netherlands and the U.K., the projects will add approximately 85,500 square meters to the company’s portfolio.

Shurgard Self Storage SA owns or operates 252 facilities comprising 1.3 million net rentable square meters in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Sources:
CubeSmart, CubeSmart Reports Third Quarter 2021 Results
Extra Space, Extra Space Storage Inc. Reports 2021 Third Quarter Results
Life Storage, Life Storage Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2021 Results
National Storage Affiliates Trust, National Storage Affiliates Trust Reports Third Quarter 2021 Results
Public Storage, Public Storage Reports Results for the Three and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2021