Big Yellow Group PLC (LON:BYG) today announced the results for the Six Months ended 30 September 2018
|
Financial metrics |
Six months ended 30 September 2018 |
Six months ended 30 September 2017 |
Growth |
|
Revenue |
£62.2 million |
£58.1 million |
7% |
|
Like-for-like Revenue(1) |
£62.0 million |
£58.1 million |
7% |
|
Store EBITDA(1) |
£42.5 million |
£39.7 million |
7% |
|
Adjusted profit before tax(1) |
£33.3 million |
£30.6 million |
9% |
|
EPRA earnings per share(1) |
20.9 pence |
19.1 pence |
9% |
|
Interim dividend per share |
16.7 pence |
15.3 pence |
9% |
|
Statutory metrics |
|
|
|
|
Profit before tax |
£61.4 million |
£78.7 million |
(22%) |
|
Cash flow from operating activities (after net finance costs) |
£34.6 million |
£29.9 million |
16% |
|
Basic earnings per share |
38.8 pence |
50.0 pence |
(22%) |
|
Store metrics Store Maximum Lettable Area (“MLA”)(1) |
4,656,000 |
4,576,000 |
1.7% |
|
Closing occupancy (sq ft) (1) |
3,904,000 |
3,816,000 |
2.3% |
|
Occupancy growth in the period (sq ft)(1) |
174,000 |
265,000 |
(34%) |
|
Closing occupancy(1) |
83.8% |
83.4% |
0.4 ppts |
|
Occupancy – like-for-like stores(1) |
84.9% |
83.4% |
1.5 ppts |
|
Average achieved net rent per sq ft(1) |
£26.97 |
£26.02 |
3.7% |
|
Closing net rent per sq ft(1) |
£27.20 |
£26.29 |
3.5% |
1 See note 19 for glossary of terms
First Half Highlights
Like-for-like revenue increased by 7% driven by growth in occupancy and rate
Average achieved net rent per sq ft increased by 3.7% period on period
Cash flow from operating activities (after net finance costs) increased by 16% to £34.6 million
Adjusted profit before tax up 9% to £33.3 million
9% increase in interim dividend to 16.7 pence per share
Acquisition of new development sites in Hove, Uxbridge and Queensbury taking pipeline to 11 development sites of approximately 680,000 sq ft (15% of current MLA)
Placing of 7.2 million shares raising £65.3 million (net of expenses) to fund development of new stores
Commenting, Nicholas Vetch, Big Yellow Group Executive Chairman, said:
“We have continued to grow our like-for-like occupancy to 84.9% (up 3.4 percentage points from 81.5% at 31 March 2018) and remain focussed on our core objective of 90% across the portfolio. As we have reduced vacant capacity, our pricing model is delivering improved rental growth and we are pleased to have achieved growth in average net rent of 3.7%.
It is self-evident that the current political and economic outlook is more uncertain than usual, but as a management team we cannot influence the outcomes.
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.”
