STOR-AGE GROWS PORTFOLIO TO 109 PROPERTIES AND DELIVERS STRONG OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL UPDATE
HIGHLIGHTS
- Interim dividend of 59.74 cents per share, up 4.5% year-on-year
- Distributable income of 66.37 cents per share, up 4.5% year-on-year
- Rental income up 8.7%, same-store occupancy up 3 500m² and net investment property value up 6.4% to R12.2 billion
- Closing occupancy 90.6% (92.1% SA; 85.2% UK)
- JV portfolio occupancy up 15 800m² (SA 9 300m²; UK 6 500m²), including same-store growth of 9 200m² (SA 4 700m²; UK 4 500m²)
- SA REIT NAV per share up 6.9% year-on-year to R17.25
- Loan-to-value ratio of 30.9% and 78.8% of net debt subject to interest rate hedging
- Property portfolio comprises 1091 trading stores (SA 63; UK 46), with the total portfolio including developments exceeding 700 000m² GLA
- Development pipeline of 78 000m² GLA, with 19 projects at various stages of planning and completion
- Acquired Lock Up Storage in KZN in October 2025 for R95 million, with 11 400m² GLA across two properties
- Construction commenced at Bramley (Johannesburg) in June 2025 at a total development cost of R91 million
- Development scheduled to begin in 2026 of new SA flagship property at De Waterkant (Cape Town foreshore) at a total development cost of R155 million (excl. land)
- Two new properties secured for development in Cape Town
- New Storage King Exeter management contract secured in September 2025
- Development of the new Hines-owned Storage King Chelmsford (South East England) commenced (7 000m² GLA) – third-party developer-operator model
- 2030 Property Strategy targeting 90 properties in SA and 70 properties in the UK
- Guidance reaffirmed for FY26 distributable income per share to be approximately 5% to 6% higher year-on-year
JSE REIT Stor-Age, South Africa’s leading and largest self-storage property fund, maintained its resilient financial performance for the twelve months to September 2025. The Group continues to strengthen its market-leading position and maintain its track record of consistent earnings growth.
November 2025 marked the ten-year anniversary since Stor-Age listed on the JSE, where the Company became 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 local stock exchange. The past decade has been characterised by a consistently strong operational and financial performance, and substantial portfolio expansion, reflecting the Group’s disciplined and highly successful execution of its multi-year strategic growth plans.
Stor-Age CEO Gavin Lucas comments, “During the past decade Stor-Age has consistently delivered on its strategic objectives, expanding the portfolio across South Africa and the UK, and delivering consistent earnings growth. Since the listing in 2015, we have continued to outperform both the JSE All Share Index (ALSI) and the JSE All Property Index (ALPI), expanding our portfolio from a value of R1.3 billion to R13.6 billion and the number of properties from 24 to 109.
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 R360.88 at the end of October 2025. The same investment in the ALSI and in the ALPI would be worth R303.27 and R113.15 respectively. Over the past decade that we’ve been publicly traded, that translates into a significant 173% outperformance of our sector benchmark, the ALPI. A pleasing result and one that we are proud of.”
For the six months to 30 September 2025, Stor-Age delivered another strong trading performance, achieving revenue and occupancy growth, with the Group growing its distributable income per share of 65.87 cents 4.5% compared to the prior year. Executing the Company’s latest five-year property strategy to 2030, Stor-Age expanded its portfolio to 109 properties (SA: 63; UK 46) and increased the combined value of the portfolio, including properties managed in JV partnerships, to R18.7 billion.
The South African portfolio remains operationally strong, delivering year-on-year growth of 9.8% in rental income and 10.6% in net property operating income on a same-store basis.
While trading conditions in the UK were more challenging during the period, the Company continued to deliverer on all key metrics relative to its UK listed peers. During the period, same-store rental income increased by 2.5%, with occupancy closing at 85.2%, and increasing by 1 400m² compared to 31 March 2025.
Since the JSE listing in 2015, through a combination of acquisitions and developments, the South African portfolio has grown at an average of 3.4 new trading properties per year and the UK portfolio four since Stor-Age’s strategic market entry into the UK in 2017. Combined, it translates into an attractive overall portfolio growth rate of an average of more than seven properties per annum since 2017. The Group’s 2030 property strategy, the fourth iteration since 2010, aims to expand the South African portfolio to 90 properties and the UK portfolio to 70 properties.
Stor-Age continues to make excellent progress in executing its UK growth strategy. In June 2025 the Company opened a new £25 million property in Acton, West London in its JV with Moorfield. Following Stor-Age entering into a third-party management agreement with Hines in FY25 to manage the acquisition of a three-property portfolio in the UK, the two companies are now working closely on four additional development projects. The first of these properties, located in Chelmford, has commenced development with the store scheduled to open in Q2 FY27. In September 2025, the Company also entered into a third-party management agreement with Time Investments, a specialist investment manager focused on asset-backed, income-producing investments, to manage a property acquired in Exeter, Devon.
In South Africa, the Group made further progress with several acquisitions and new developments, further cementing its sector-leading position in the country. The latest addition to the portfolio was in October 2025, with the Company acquiring two properties operated by Lock Up Storage in KwaZulu-Natal for R95 million. Located in Pinetown and New Germany, the two properties will expand the portfolio by 11 400m2.
In June 2025, construction commenced on a new property located in Bramley, Johannesburg. The development, situated alongside the busy M1 highway, will comprise 5 600m2 GLA with a total development cost of R91 million. In Cape Town, the Company announced that it plans to imminently break ground on a new SA flagship store, a 6 500m2 GLA property in De Waterkant on the foreshore, and located in close proximity to the V&A Waterfront. At a development cost of R155 million excluding land costs, it will be the most expensive self storage property ever developed in South Africa, as well as the tallest at 13 storeys. Construction at the property is expected to begin in early 2026.
Concludes Lucas, “Our South African portfolio continues to deliver strong growth momentum supported by improving macroeconomic conditions, including a more favourable inflation outlook, a stabilising political environment and the prospect of interest rate cuts. These trends underpin a positive outlook for continued performance in the second half of the year. In the UK, trading conditions have been more challenging across the sector than anticipated. We remain focused on driving operational efficiencies, disciplined cost management and further growth of our third-party management platform to enhance long-term resilience and scale. Looking ahead, Stor-Age continues to focus on growth opportunities in both markets while maintaining a conservative capital structure.”
Stor-Age reaffirmed its FY26 full year forecast of distributable income per share growth of 5 – 6%.
The share closed yesterday at R17.55.
