Stor-Age REIT has declared a dividend of 56.60 cents per share for its condensed unaudited consolidated interim results for the six months ended September 2021 – an increase of 8.85% on 2020’s comparative period.
The largest self-storage property fund in South Africa, its total portfolio comprises of 76 self-storage properties with 54 in South Africa valued at R4.8 billion and 22 in the UK valued at R3.2 billion.
Headline earnings per share reflected a 21.8% increase to R54.38 compared to the R44.66 reported in 2020’s comparative period with earnings per share of R91.68, a 38.5% decrease when compared to 2020’s R149.18.
With a total occupancy of 86.8% in South Africa and 94.1% in the UK, the group’s rental income and net property operating income was up by 13.1% and 20.1% respectively with like-for-like rental income in South Africa reflecting an 11.6% increase and an 23.8% increase in the UK.
The group’s like-for-like net property operating income was up by 16.8% in South Africa and 34.7% in the UK with a like-for-like portfolio vacancy up by 18 000m2 (South Africa: 7 600m2 and the UK: 10 400m2).
Stor-Age’s net investment property value increased by 9.3% to R7.953 billion with a loan-to-value ratio of 25%.
During the reporting period, the group completed the restructuring of its GBP debt facilities including a seven-year £21 million sustainability-linked loan from Aviva Investors.
It also acquired three self-storage properties – Blackpool in the UK for £3.6 million and two properties in South Africa for R108 million.
With a development pipeline of ten properties at R850 million and 59 200m2 of gross lettable area, the group announced a joint venture with Nedbank in September 2021 to develop new properties across South Africa.
