Update 8/18/20 – Shurgard has released interim financial results for the second quarter and first half of 2020. There were no changes from the preliminary report for either period with respect to operating-revenue growth at CER, same-store revenue or figures from its individual European markets.
“The first half of the year has been a tale of two contrasting quarters as our customers and employees reacted to lockdowns of varying intensities,” Oursin said. “Yet, in the midst of the global pandemic, Shurgard delivered revenue and earnings growth, responding to the unique challenges of the COVID-19 crisis and ensuring the safety of our staff and customers. As each of our markets has reopened, we have restarted paused developments and are once again ramping up the sales trajectory. The challenges we faced during Q2 demonstrate Shurgard’s resilience.”
The company declared a first-half dividend of €0.49 per share, which is an 8.9 percent increase compared to the first half of 2019. The dividend will be paid on or about Oct. 1.
7/10/20 – Shurgard Self Storage Europe SARL, the European affiliate of U.S.-based real estate investment trust Public Storage Inc., has released preliminary financial results for the second quarter and first half of 2020, which ended June 30. In general, the operator showed gains in key areas, particularly operating revenue, according to a press release. Officials also reported on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on company performance.
Six-month highlights include operating-revenue growth at constant exchange rate (CER) of 5.2 percent, while the company achieved 5 percent growth, year over year, during the second quarter. Same-store revenue grew 3.8 percent using CER during the six-month period and 3 percent during the quarter.
Of the seven European markets in which Shurgard operates, the The Netherlands showed the largest same-store, year-over-year quarterly revenue gain at 5 percent using CER for the first half of the year and 4.9 percent during the second quarter. Germany was second at 4.6 percent/3.9 percent, followed by the United Kingdom at 4.3 percent/2.5 percent. Same-store locations in Denmark performed the weakest, with revenue growth up .2 percent during the six-month period and flat during the second quarter.
Occupancy across all Shurgard locations was 88.6 percent as of June 30, while same-store occupancy closed at 89.6 percent. Average rent per square meter across the portfolio was €218.9 during the second quarter, up 2.2 percent from last year.
The numbers were positive despite operational adjustments and government orders in reaction to the spread of COVID-19, which began to affect Shurgard markets in the middle of March. While lockdowns particularly impacted locations in Belgium, France and the U.K., 50 percent of the company’s portfolio was able to operate under more flexible guidelines in Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden. “Now we have exited lockdown in all our markets, and the business is nearly back to normal,” officials said.
“The company has been able to deliver strong revenue growth during the ‘COVID-19 quarter’ in line with our guidance and keeping the pace of the first quarter,” said Marc Oursin, CEO. “This remarkable achievement is based on the engagement of our people in our seven countries. It is again demonstrating the value of our significant geographical spread and the efficiency of our platform.”
In addition to ongoing uncertainty related to the health crisis, Shurgard is mindful of potential effects from the finalization of the U.K. exit from the European Union. “Europe will face in the coming quarters very uncertain times with finally a Brexit of an unknown shape and impact, plus significant redundancies in all the countries,” Oursin said. “Shurgard has the teams, the management, the platform and the financial capacity as the leader of the self-storage industry on this side of the Atlantic to go through these challenges successfully.”
Shurgard operates 240 self-storage facilities comprising 1.2 million net rentable square meters in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Based in Glendale, Calif., Public Storage has interests in 2,492 self-storage facilities in 38 states, with approximately 170 million net rentable square feet. It holds a 35 percent interest in Shurgard.
