U.K. self-storage company Lok'nStore Group PLC has reported a strong performance based on preliminary figures for the first half of its 2015 fiscal year, which ended Jan. 31. The company reported a 16 percent increase in revenue from the first half of 2014. Occupancy was up 5.5 percent year over year, and average price per square foot increased 6.7 percent compared to the same period last year.
One area of service growth is records storage, with the number of stored boxes increasing 31 percent during the period. Officials said it would take time for the increased business to translate into revenue growth and added profit, according to the source.
Lok'nStore opened a new facility in Reading, England, last October and sold another asset for £2.9 million. The company still has three other sites under development in Aldershot, Bristol and Southampton, England. Aldershot is expected to open in April or May, while Bristol and Southampton are scheduled to be complete within the next 18 months.
"Strong growth of the existing business, good asset management and Lok'nStore's conservative debt ratios mean that this major expansion can be financed out of cash flow and our existing bank facility, and this will enable us to continue to deliver enhanced returns for our shareholders," said Andrew Jacobs, CEO.
The company is expected to publish its first-half financial results on April 27.
Lok’nStore builds, buys or leases large warehouses or industrial buildings and rents storage units to customers on a weekly basis. Around 60 percent of the company's 7,000 customers are residential and 40 percent are commercial. Lok’nStore has more than 920,000 square feet of net rentable space, which is evenly split between freehold and leasehold.
Sources:
- Interactive Investor: Undervalued Lok'nStore Has Promise
- London South East: Lok'nStore First Half Strong as Self-Storage Occupancy and Prices Up
