Update on Covid-19
2 April 2020
Safestore Holdings plc
("Safestore", "the Company" or "the Group")
Update on Covid-19
Further to the Company's announcement on 18 March 2020, Safestore provides the following update.
At Safestore, the health and well-being of our customers and colleagues is our absolute priority. Following governments' recent announcements regarding restrictions of movement, we have implemented strict safeguarding measures across our portfolio, in line with government guidance in each geography, to maintain social distancing and ensure we can operate safely, protect our staff, and allow necessary access for our customers.
All our stores in the UK, Paris, Barcelona and the Netherlands are currently open or accessible but the reception areas are closed, the staffing and opening hours have been reduced and we have removed the provision of services that involve person-to-person contact. Access to our stores is largely automated and, in general, the premises have relatively low footfall. We are supporting our employees with alternative means of transport to work where public transport continues to be a challenge.
The process for new enquiries remains unchanged with customers able to enquire via our website or phone, and we have adjusted the new let process so that ID checks will now take place electronically. In addition, we have intensified the daily cleaning levels of our stores, especially commonly touched areas.
It is our intention to continue to pay all our employees' salaries as usual throughout the crisis.
In line with UK Government guidance relating to storage and points of delivery facilities, our UK stores remain open as they provide important support to small business customers and companies engaged in key supply chains including healthcare, food industry suppliers and infrastructure support such as electrical and mechanical repair providers.
While COVID-19 continues to create uncertainty, we are monitoring developments daily to ensure we adhere to government advice in each of our geographies and continue to ensure the safety of our staff and customers.
Trading and operational update
Since the Company's AGM and update on 18 March 2020, the Group's key trading performance indicators continue to see a relatively limited impact with 4.92 million square feet of occupied space across the portfolio, a reduction of 0.8% since our first quarter ended on 31 January 2020.
Gearing and capital structure
Following shareholder approval at the Company's Annual General Meeting on 18 March 2020, the Company confirms the final dividend of 12.0 pence per share will be paid to shareholders on the register at close of business on 6 March 2020 on 9 April 2020.
Safestore is well-capitalised with a strong balance sheet. After payment of the 2019 final dividend, the Company will have undrawn debt facilities of c. £151million. None of the facilities are due for renewal before June 2023 and the average cost of debt of the Group is 2.3%. The Group Loan to Value ratio will be c. 32% after the dividend payment and the Interest Cover Ratio is c. 8.8x.
Capital Projects
During the financial year to date, Safestore has opened a 40,000 square feet freehold store at Carshalton and a 38,000 square feet long leasehold (130 years) store in Gateshead. Building works relating to the scheduled openings for the remainder of the year in Sheffield (April 2020) and Paris Magenta (December 2020) have been paused in the interests of the safety of staff and site contractors. The remaining capital expenditure relating to the outstanding 2020 pipeline projects is c. £12m and the projects will resume when further clarity on the COVID-19 situation allows.
Hedging
Given the recent volatility in the Sterling:Euro exchange rate, the Group has taken out average rate FX forward contracts to hedge the majority of the Group's exposure to the translation of Euro denominated earnings for the next three years. The value of the contracts are €6.5m for the second half of the 2020 financial year, €14.5m and €16m for the 2021 and 2022 financial years respectively and €8.5m for the first half of the 2023 financial year. These contracts have the effect of fixing the rate at which the majority of the Euro earnings are translated at a rate of €1.0751 to £1.
The Board continues to monitor the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation closely and the Company will continue to update the market as appropriate.
For further information, please contact:
|
Safestore Holdings plc Frederic Vecchiolli - Chief Executive Officer Andy Jones - Chief Financial Officer
|
020 8732 1500 |
|
Instinctif Partners Guy Scarborough Catherine Wickman |
020 7457 2020 |
Notes to editors:
· Safestore is the UK's largest self-storage group with 158 stores, comprising 126 wholly owned stores in the UK (including 71 in London and the South East with the remainder in key metropolitan areas such as Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Bristol). In Paris, the Group has 28 wholly owned stores and recently acquired 4 stores in Barcelona. In addition, the Group operates 6 stores in the Netherlands under a joint venture agreement with Carlyle.
· Safestore operates more self-storage sites inside the M25 and in central Paris than any competitor providing more proximity to customers in the wealthiest and densest UK and French markets.
· Safestore was founded in the UK in 1998. It acquired the French business "Une Pièce en Plus" ("UPP") in 2004 which was founded in 1998 by the current Safestore Group CEO Frederic Vecchioli.
· Safestore has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 2007. It entered the FTSE 250 index in October 2015.
· The Group provides storage to around 76,000 personal and business customers in the UK, Paris, Barcelona and the Netherlands.
· As at 31 January 2020, Safestore had a maximum lettable area ("MLA") of 6.71 million sq ft (excluding the expansion pipeline stores) of which 4.96 million sq ft was occupied.
· Safestore employs around 680 people in the UK, Paris and Barcelona.
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