Safestore quarterly revenues fall, names new CFO

Self-storage group Safestore said on Thursday that quarterly revenues had fallen amid "challenging economic conditions".

Revenues were down 0.7% year-on-year at £55.3m, with closing occupancy just 0.2% higher at 6.11m square foot, and average storage rates were 1.2% weaker at £30.06.

Safestore said the group property pipeline of 1.4m square feet, representing roughly 17% of its existing portfolio, will be funded from existing financial resources and was expected to generate £25.0m-£30.0m of stabilised underlying earnings.

Separately, Safestore names Simon Clinton as its new chief financial officer, with effect from no later than 31 May. Clinton, who joins the group from Logicor, will succeed Andy Jones as CFO, who announced his intention to retire back in September 2023.

Chief executive Frederic Vecchioli said: "As expected, the early trading trends indicated in our January 2024 announcement have continued through to the end of our first quarter. The good continental European performances, combined with a reduced seasonal outflow driving resilient UK trading in the context of challenging economic conditions, resulted in the Group delivering like-for-like revenue marginally down 0.9% on a CER basis. We continue to believe that the REVPAF delivered by the Group is the strongest in the European industry."

As of 0910 GMT, Safestore shares were down 1.00% at 788.50p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com