Safestore Holdings (LSE:SAFE) PLC reported slower trading in the first quarter of its financial year, though it entered the German self-storage market and expanded its pipeline.
A new joint venture with Carlyle has acquired Germany-based myStorage, a business with seven stores spread over 326,000 sq ft of maximum lettable area (MLA).
Two new stores were also opened in Spain during the period, while a 58,000 sq ft existing storage facility was acquired in the Netherlands and two stores were added in Ellesmere Port in the UK and in Barcelona, Spain to its pipeline.
Like-for-like revenue growth was 4.2% and total revenue growth of 9.4%, down from 5.5% and 11.2% in the fourth quarter and 10.7% and 13.8% respectively for the whole of last year.
Chief executive Frederic Vecchioli called trading "solid" and said the new stores added to its pipeline, which, at 1.5mln sq ft, now represents 19% of the group's existing portfolio's MLA.
"We anticipate the pipeline will continue to grow over the coming months. Our strong and flexible, recently refinanced balance sheet has significant funding capacity, allowing us to continue to consider and execute strategic, value-accretive investments as and when they arise."
With 1.8mln sq ft of currently unlet space, he said the first quarter's trading performance "has provided us with a solid base for the rest of the financial year and we anticipate that the business delivers adjusted diluted EPRA earnings per share for 2022/23 in line with the consensus of analysts' forecasts".