Trading Statement

Big Yellow Group PLC

20 January 2026

 

20 January 2026

Big Yellow Group PLC

("Big Yellow" or "the Group")

Trading Statement

Big Yellow is pleased to provide the following update on trading for the third quarter ended 31 December 2025. 

Financial metrics	Quarter ended  31 December 2025	Quarter ended 31 December 2024	Change
Total revenue for the quarter	£52.3 million	£51.4 million	2%
Like-for-like store revenue for the quarter(1)	£51.9 million	£51.1 million	2%
Total revenue for the year to date	£157.5 million	£154.4 million	2%
Like-for-like store revenue for the year to date(1)	£156.3 million	£153.3 million	2%
Store metrics - all 111 stores
Store Maximum Lettable Area ("MLA")	6,562,000	6,421,000	2.2%
Closing occupancy (sq ft)	4,946,000	4,988,000	(0.8%)
Occupancy change in quarter	(82,000 sq ft)	(180,000 sq ft)	98,000 sq ft
Closing occupancy	75.4%	77.7%	(2.3 ppts)
Closing occupancy - like-for-like stores(1)	76.7%	77.7%	(1.0 ppt)
Average achieved net rent per sq ft for the quarter	£36.19	£34.87	4%
Average achieved net rent per sq ft for the year to date	£35.98	£34.53	4%
Closing net rent per sq ft	£36.32	£35.26	3%

(1)   Excluding Staines and Queensbury (opened July 2025 and October 2025 respectively)

The Group's revenue increased by 2% in the quarter and is up 2% for the year to date.

In the seasonally weaker third quarter, occupancy decreased by 82,000 sq ft, a significant improvement on last year's loss of 180,000 sq ft. 

Like-for-like closing occupancy was 76.7%, a decrease of 1.0 ppt from the same time last year, and an improvement from the position reported at 30 September 2025 of a decrease of 2.3 ppts.  Overall closing occupancy was 75.4%, including the additional capacity of 142,000 sq ft from two newly opened stores. 

Closing net achieved rent per sq ft for all stores was £36.32, an increase of 3% from the same time last year, with average rate up 4% on the same quarter last year, and up 4% for the year to date. 

Like-for-like operating expenses for the year to date are down 0.5% on the prior year.  For the full year, we expect like-for-like operating expenses to increase by 2-3%, as we continue to invest our operating cost savings into additional digital marketing spend to drive demand and occupancy.

We reported in our interim results that full year earnings growth will be impacted from a one-off receipt of £4 million in the prior year in respect of insurance proceeds from the Cheadle Fire, of which £3 million was received in the quarter to December last year.  For the nine months to 31 December 2025, unaudited adjusted EPS is up 2%, compared to growth of 7% reported for the six months to 30 September 2025.  We anticipate adjusted EPS growth for the full year of approximately 2%.

Jim Gibson, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"In our interim results, we highlighted the need to return occupancy to being a key driver of revenue growth.  We have seen an increase in demand starting from the beginning of November and are pleased to be reporting an improvement in relative occupancy performance over the quarter and have narrowed further the year-on-year like-for-like gap.  The improvement in net occupancy performance has been across domestic and business customers, and of note we grew business occupancy this quarter by 15,000 sq ft, compared to a loss of 28,000 sq ft in the same quarter last year.

Our two recently opened stores in Staines and Queensbury (both in London) are performing well.  We are opening a further two stores before the year end (Slough Bath Road, and Wembley, London) and four in the forthcoming financial year.  Having received planning on Leicester in December, we now have consent on 10 of our 13 pipeline stores.

We continue to maintain a conservative capital structure with a significant proportion of our debt as variable and any further cuts in interest rates should provide a tailwind to earnings growth.  We remain confident in our business model and are well positioned to take advantage of opportunities to develop new sites or acquire existing storage centres."

For further information, please contact:

Big Yellow Group PLC                                                                                                              [phone]

Nicholas Vetch CBE, Executive Chairman

Jim Gibson, Chief Executive Officer

John Trotman, Chief Financial Officer

Sodali & Co                                                                                                                                 [phone]

Ben Foster

Victoria Heslop

Notes to Editors 

Big Yellow is the UK's brand leader in self storage and operates from a platform of 111 stores.  We have a pipeline of 0.9 million sq ft comprising 13 proposed self storage facilities.  The current maximum lettable area of the existing platform is 6.6 million sq ft.  When fully built out the portfolio will provide approximately 7.5 million sq ft of flexible storage space.  99% of our stores and sites by value are held freehold and long leasehold, with the remaining 1% short leasehold.  Currently by revenue 75% of our stores are in London and its commuter towns, with the balance in larger regional conurbations.

Our stores utilise state of the art technology for our digital and operating platforms including security, and we focus on locating our stores in high profile, accessible, main road locations.  We also focus on providing excellent customer service, a highly engaged employee culture, and with a significant investment in sustainability. 

 

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