Stor-Age reports strong year end results, delivering a decade of successful performance
HIGHLIGHTS
- Earnings: Distributable income per share for the year 123.01 cents, up 4.1%
- Financial performance: Rental income up 8.3%, occupancy up 16 000m² and net investment property value up 6.0% to R12 billion
- Portfolio growth: Number of trading properties increased from 99 to 108, with the total portfolio including developments now exceeding 700 000m² GLA
- Strategic partnerships: Working with Hines, one of the largest privately held real estate investors and managers globally, on five development projects in the UK
- Balance sheet management: Loan-to-value ratio of 31.3% and 84.2% of net debt subject to interest rate hedging
- Future outlook: Forecasting distributable income per share growth of 5 – 6% for FY26
JSE REIT Stor-Age, South Africa’s leading and largest self storage property fund, marked a decade of consistent performance and significant portfolio growth, releasing its tenth annual set of results since listing on the JSE in 2015. Demonstrating resilience, the Group continues to strengthen its market-leading position, delivering another year of robust financial and operational performance.
Stor-Age CEO Gavin Lucas comments, “In 2015 we brought to market a highly specialised self storage REIT, the first self storage REIT to be listed on an emerging market exchange globally and the first, and still only, of the real estate “alternatives” to be listed on the JSE. After a decade of consistent performance, we are pleased to have delivered another strong set of trading results, driven by gains in occupancy and rental rates. While continuing to maintain a conservative balance sheet, we’ve also grown the number of trading properties in our portfolio from 99 to 108.
“Against the backdrop of persistently weak macroeconomic conditions, and including events such as “Nenegate” happening less than a month post our listing, the Financial Services Conduct Authority investigation into high-profile JSE-listed REITs, Covid-19 and a period of rampant inflation and rapidly escalating interest rates, Stor-Age has significantly outperformed both the economic cycle and sector indices over the past decade.
“Assuming R100 was invested on the date of our listing in November 2015 and provided that the full pre-tax dividend was reinvested, an investment in Stor-Age would be worth R329 at the end of May 2025. The same investment in the JSE All Share Index and in the JSE All Property Index would be worth R255 and R112 respectively. The underpin to this stellar performance has been our same-store rental income growth in both SA since 2016 and the UK since 2017, with the compound annual growth rate over the periods in excess of 9% and 8% in SA and the UK respectively, well ahead of the corresponding GDP figure of less than 1% in each market.”
During the past twelve months the South African portfolio delivered another strong performance with same-store rental income and net property operating income increasing by 10.2% and 11.1% respectively compared to the prior year. The UK portfolio delivered an equally pleasing set of results, with same-store rental income and net property operating income increasing by 6.5% and 5.0% respectively.
Stor-Age has a long and successful track record of acquiring, developing and managing self storage properties in prime locations that have delivered high occupancy and rental rate growth. Over the past two years, the Company has completed 12 new developments, six each in South Africa and the UK. Each of these developments were completed in JV structures, where Stor-Age partners with institutional or private equity capital, enabling the Company to acquire, develop, operate and manage assets across multiple locations.
In FY25 the Company opened two new developments in SA, one in Century City in Cape Town and another in Kramerville in Johannesburg, and one development in the UK, located in Leyton in East London. In addition, the Company added four new third-party managed properties in the UK and acquired an existing operator in South Africa, Extra Attic, located near Cape Town Airport.
Post year-end, in June 2025 the Company opened a new £25 million property in Acton, West London in its JV with Moorfield. In addition, following Stor-Age entering into a third-party management agreement with Hines earlier in the year to manage the acquisition of a three-property portfolio in the UK, the two companies have now also partnered on five additional development projects. Hines is a privately owned global real estate investment manager overseeing c. US$90 billion in assets across multiple property sectors. Stor-Age’s development pipeline at year-end consisted of 18 active projects at various stages of planning and completion, amounting to over 83 000m² GLA.
Comments Lucas, “We continue to evaluate new on-balance sheet developments, including extensions to existing properties, and also exploring opportunities to continue partnering with institutional and private equity capital. These partnerships may take the form of joint ventures or sit within our third-party management platform, which enables us to generate additional revenue with minimal capital outlay. This flexible approach has proven successful in the UK where the portfolio has expanded from 26 properties two years ago to 45 today.”
Concludes Lucas, “Over the past decade we have consistently demonstrated our resilience and the ability to deliver robust financial and operational performance despite encountering challenging macroeconomic headwinds in both markets. We will continue to deploy capital strategically, adding quality and scale to our high-quality portfolio on a select basis and in line with our strict investment criteria.
“In South Africa, an improved inflation outlook, a stabilising political climate and recent interest rate cuts have created a favourable environment for further growth. We expect the UK self storage sector to remain resilient, with moderate revenue growth supported by operational efficiencies. We remain focused on enhancing operational performance and driving growth across both South Africa and the UK, supported by a strong and flexible balance sheet, disciplined capital allocation and robust operating margins.”
Stor-Age is forecasting distributable income per share growth of 5 – 6% in FY26.
The share closed on Friday at R16.45.
