We have seen another year of steady occupancy growth against a backdrop of muted economic growth. Store revenue for the year grew by 8%, feeding through to a 17% improvement in adjusted profit and a 17% increase in operating cash flow.
Store performance
In all Big Yellow stores, the occupancy growth in the current year was 328,000 sq ft, against an increase of 215,000 sq ft in the prior year. This growth across the 53 wholly owned and 12 stores in the Partnership represents an average of 5,046 sq ft per store (2011: 3,468 sq ft per store).
During the year we opened three stores, two wholly owned stores in New Cross and Eltham, both in South East London and a store in Stockport within Big Yellow Limited Partnership. Since the year end, we have opened a wholly owned flagship store in Chiswick, West London. These openings bring the number now trading in the Group and the Partnership to 66 stores.
Store occupancy summary
| Occupancy 31 March 2012 000 sq ft |
Occupancy 31 March 2011 000 sq ft |
Occupancy growth for year to 31 March 2012 000 sq ft |
Occupancy growth for year to 31 March 2011 000 sq ft |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 established stores | 1,442 | 1,381 | 61 | 31 |
| 21 lease-up stores | 691 | 534 | 157 | 86 |
| 53 wholly owned stores | 2,133 | 1,915 | 218 | 117 |
| 12 Partnership lease-up stores | 325 | 215 | 110 | 98 |
| All 65 stores | 2,458 | 2,130 | 328 | 215 |
The 53 wholly owned stores had a net gain in occupancy of 218,000 sq ft, representing an average of 4,113 sq ft per store. This compares to an overall gain in the wholly owned stores of 117,000 sq ft in the year to 31 March 2011, and a gain of 66,000 sq ft in the year to 31 March 2010. The 12 stores in the Partnership, which are at an earlier stage of lease-up, increased their occupancy by 110,000 sq ft, representing average growth of 9,167 sq ft per store.
The 32 established stores are 74.3% occupied compared to 71.1% at the same time last year. The 21 lease-up stores have grown in occupancy from 41.5% to 48.8%, and overall store occupancy has increased in the year from 59.3% to 63.5%. Like for like occupancy, excluding Eltham and New Cross which opened in the year, increased from 59.3% to 64.9%.
For the first time since the onset of the economic downturn in 2007, the occupancy in the Group's wholly owned store portfolio at March was above the high enjoyed in the previous September, thus recouping all the normal seasonal occupancy losses incurred in the December quarter.
We saw an increase in move-in activity during the year, moving in over 54,000 customers into all stores (including those in the Partnership) taking 3.43 million sq ft compared to 47,000 customers taking 2.95 million sq ft last year. Move-out activity also increased in the year, reflecting a higher level of churn in the business, with 51,000 customers moving out from 3.10 million sq ft compared to 45,000 customers moving out from 2.73 million sq ft last year.
The table below illustrates the seasonality of the business with move-ins to the like–for-like portfolio of 51 wholly owned stores, which were up 9% on the prior year.
| Move-ins | Year ended 31 March 2012 |
Year ended 31 March 2011 |
Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| April to June | 11,081 | 10,991 | 1% |
| July to September | 12,661 | 11,981 | 6% |
| October to December | 10,195 | 8,845 | 15% |
| January to March | 10,149 | 8,685 | 17% |
| Total | 44,086 | 40,502 | 9% |
Move-ins in April 2012 were up 17% on April 2011.
Of the 53 wholly owned stores open at the year end all are trading profitably at the EBITDA level, with the exception of New Cross, which opened in February 2012. Eleven of the twelve stores within Big Yellow Limited Partnership are trading profitably at the EBITDA level, with the exception of Stockport, which opened in September 2011.
73% of our current revenue derives from within the M25; for London and the South East, the proportion of current revenue rises to 89%. The performance of our stores in London has been more resilient over the past five years than those outside London.
The average net rental achieved across the 53 wholly owned stores was £26.81 per sq ft per annum (the average rent in London is higher at £28.80 per sq ft per annum). The stores in lease-up achieved a higher average rental (£27.49 per sq ft) than the 32 established stores (£26.52 per sq ft), reflecting the greater London weighting of the lease-up store portfolio.
Our key focus over the next two to three years is to drive occupancy and hence revenue in the stores. During the downturn we increased the level of promotional offers in the business, resulting in more muted rental growth over the past couple of years. As the stores lease-up, and the number of vacant rooms in particular sizes reduce, our pricing model will automatically reduce the level of discounts offered, leading to an increase in net achieved rents. In our higher occupancy stores within the established portfolio, we have seen net rental growth of 4-5% in the current year. We have a rolling programme of price increases to existing storage customers, in most cases providing an annual increase in storage rents of 6%.
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Occupied sq ft
per established store
Revenue per
established store
EBITDA per
established store