Safestore Holdings locks in revenues

Safestore Holdings, the provider of self-storage in the UK and France, said it had performed in line with expectations in the last year.

The firm said revenues were up 4% to £98.8m and it had let 3.29m square feet of space, up 2.4% up on last year's record level.

However, it said attempts to pass on a recent hike in VAT on storage in the UK had resulted in higher numbers of people vacating their storage and lower levels of new business.

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"While it will take more than one month's data to fully assess the impact on our business, early indications suggest that it remains in line with previous guidance," the company said.

Total revenue in the UK for the fourth quarter was up 2.7% compared to the previous year, the trading update said.

At the end of the year occupancy across all stores in the UK was 2.54m sq ft., up 1.6% on the year before.

Trading in Paris remained resilient, which the firm said was down to its strong competitive position amid the challenges of the Eurozone economy.

Total French revenue for the fourth quarter was up 4.3% over the prior year in constant exchange rates, but down 4.7% in Sterling, reflecting the significant year on year fall in the Euro.

Closing occupancy was 71.6% at the end of October, down from 75.2% in 2011 owing to the opening of new stores added late in the year.

MM