Safestore sees FY earnings at lower end of forecasts

(Sharecast News) - Safestore Holdings warned that full-year earnings were likely to come in at the lower end of analyst forecasts on Thursday, as it continued to invest in new sites. The self-storage landlord opened two stores in Madrid and Barcelona during the third quarter, as well as acquiring two sites in the UK and in Pamplona and extending existing sites in London and Paris.

Frederic Vecchioli, chief executive, said there had been "some softness" in the UK's business customer segment, due to the weaker economic backdrop, but that trading elsewhere remained "robust".

He continued: "We anticipate that our pipeline will continue to grow in the coming months.

"While the pipeline and associated financing will be dilutive to earnings in the near term, the returns generated by new stores are reliable and we are confident that it will be significantly value-accretive as the new sites mature."

The London-listed firm now expects adjusted diluted earnings per share to come in towards the lower range of analyst forecasts, of between 47.3p and 50.3p.

In the 2022 full-year, Safestore reported adjusted diluted EPS of 47.5p.

Safestore, which has 187 stores in the UK, reported group revenues of £56.5m in the three months to 31 July, an 2.9% increase on a constant currency basis. Like-for-like revenues rose 1.2% on the same basis to £52.7m.

Revenue per available square foot in the year-to-date was £27.56, an 1.5% increase year-on-year, or 0.7% on a constant currency basis.

As at 1230 BST, shares in Safestore were down 6% at 808.9p.