LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Self storage company Big Yellow Group said first half pre-tax profits fell 22% due to a lower revaluation gain in the period.
Profit before tax was came in at £61.4m from £78.7m in 2017. Earnings per share were 38.8p compared with 50p.

Adjusted pre-tax profit rose 9% to £33.3m as revenues rose 7% to £62.2m. Like-for-like occupancy rose 3.4 percentage points to 84.9%.

The interim dividend was lifted 9% to 16.7p a share.

Big Yellow said it now had a pipeline of 11 development sites, including the proposed increases in capacity of its Battersea and Wapping stores, with a cost to complete of around £100m in addition to the £23m of capital expenditure spent in the first half.

These new stores were expected to add approximately 680,000 sq ft of storage space to the company's portfolio, an increase of 15%.

Looking forward, chief executive Nicholas Vetch said it was "self-evident that the current political and economic outlook is more uncertain than usual".

"We remain focused on strengthening our market leading brand and operating platform; filling stores and then driving rental growth at higher occupancy levels; and developing new high quality stores, while maintaining a conservative capital structure."

"We believe this strategy positions the group to provide a good degree of protection against adversity, and at the same time flexibility to invest in our business and exploit growth opportunities when they come along."

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