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Audited Consolidated Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2024 and Declaration of a Cash Dividend
Stor-Age Property REIT Limited
Registration number: 2015/168454/06
Approved as a REIT by the JSE
Share code: SSS ISIN: ZAE000208963
Alpha code: SSSI
("Stor-Age" or the "group" or the "company")
AUDITED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024 AND DECLARATION OF A CASH DIVIDEND
The board of Stor-Age is pleased to present strong trading results for the year ending 31 March 2024.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Final dividend of 56.81 cents
- Rental income and net property operating income up 14.8% and 14.4% respectively
- Same-store operating metrics:
- Rental income up 12.7% SA and 3.0% UK
- Net property operating income up 13.9% SA and 1.1% UK
- Achieved rental rate up 9.5% SA and 4.7% UK
- Portfolio occupancy up 10 700m² (SA 8 700m²; UK 2 000m²)
- Closing occupancy 90.2% (SA 92.1%; UK 83.5%)
- Third-party management fees up 75.4% to R63.1 million
- Net investment property value up 8.8% to R11.3 billion
- Loan-to-value ratio of 31.4% with over 85% of net debt subject to hedging
- Excellent strategic progress made in our JV structures during the year having opened or acquired
12 properties, representing 72 500m² GLA (SA 4; UK 8)
- Third-party management agreement entered to with Hines (one of the largest privately held real
estate investors and managers globally) post year end to manage their recently acquired three
property self storage portfolio in Kent, taking the total number of managed properties to 23 (SA 6;
UK 17)
- Successful debt auction concluded in April 2024 – raised R500 million across three-year (R300
million) and five-year (R200 million) listed notes below price guidance
- Development pipeline of 60 000m² GLA across 13 projects at various stages of planning and
completion
GROUP SNAPSHOT
Stor-Age is the largest self storage property fund and most recognisable brand in SA. The portfolio
comprises 103 trading properties across SA (60) and the UK (43), providing storage to 52 000
customers (as at 31 May 2024). The combined value of the portfolio, including properties managed in
our JV partnerships, was R17.3 billion (SA – R6.0 billion; UK – £471 million) at 31 March 2024 with the
maximum lettable area, including the pipeline and ongoing developments, exceeding 650 000m². The
group employs more than 480 staff across SA and the UK. Stor-Age has been listed on the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange since November 2015.
KEY FINANCIAL RESULTS
Year ended Year ended Change
31 March 2024 31 March 2023 %
Property revenue (R'000) 1 228 346 1 070 788 14.7
Distributable earnings (R'000) 562 680 560 704 0.4
Headline earnings per share (cents) 89.15 105.38 (15.4)
Earnings per share (cents) 148.55 152.67 (2.7)
Dividend per share (cents) 118.17 118.14 -
Net tangible asset value per share (cents) 1 562.05 1 483.02 5.3
DECLARATION OF A CASH DIVIDEND
Notice is hereby given of the declaration of the gross final dividend (number 17) of 56.81 cents per
share for the six months ended 31 March 2024 ("Cash Dividend"). The dividend has been declared
from income reserves.
The salient dates and times in relation to the Cash Dividend are as follows:
Salient dates and times 2024
Last day to trade ("LDT") cum-dividend Tuesday, 2 July
Shares to trade ex-dividend Wednesday, 3 July
Record date Friday, 5 July
Payments to Certificated Shareholders and accounts credited by Monday, 8 July
CSDP or broker of dematerialised Shareholders
Notes:
- Shares may not be dematerialised or rematerialised between commencement of trade on Wednesday, 3 July
2024 and the close of trade on Friday, 5 July 2024, both days inclusive.
- The above dates and times are subject to change. Any changes will be released on SENS.
TAX IMPLICATIONS
As the company has REIT status, Shareholders are advised that the dividend meets the requirements
of a "qualifying distribution" for the purposes of section 25BB of the Income Tax Act (No. 58 of 1962),
as amended, ("Income Tax Act"). The dividend on the shares will be deemed to be a dividend, for South
African tax purposes, in terms of section 25BB of the Income Tax Act.
South African tax residents
The dividend received by or accrued to South African tax residents must be included in the gross income
of such Shareholders and will not be exempt from income tax (in terms of the exclusion to the general
dividend exception, contained in paragraph (aa) of section 10(1)(k)(i) of the Income Tax Act) because
it is a dividend distributed by a REIT.
The dividend is exempt from dividend withholding tax in the hands of South African tax resident
Shareholders, provided that the South African resident Shareholders provide the following forms to the
CSDP or broker in respect of uncertificated shares, or to the company, in respect of certificated shares:
a) a declaration that the dividend is exempt from dividend tax; and
b) a written undertaking to inform the CSDP, broker or the company, should the circumstances affecting
the exemption change or the beneficial owner cease to be the beneficial owner,
both in the form prescribed by the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service.
Shareholders are advised to contact their CSDP, broker or the company to arrange for the
abovementioned documents to be submitted prior to payment of the dividend, if such documents have
not already been submitted.
Non-resident Shareholders
Dividends received by non-resident Shareholders will not be taxable as income and instead will be
treated as an ordinary dividend which is exempt from income tax in terms of the general dividend
exemption in section 10(1)(k)(i) of the Income Tax Act. It should be noted that up to 31 December 2013
dividends received by non-residents from a REIT were not subject to dividend withholding tax. Since 1
January 2014, any dividend received by a non-resident from a REIT will be subject to dividend
withholding tax at 20%, unless the rate is reduced in terms of any applicable agreement for the
avoidance of double taxation ("DTA") between South Africa and the country of residence of the
shareholder concerned. Assuming dividend withholding tax will be withheld at a rate of 20%, the net
dividend amount due to non-resident Shareholders is 45.44800 cents per share. A reduced dividend
withholding rate in terms of the applicable DTA may only be relied on if the non-resident shareholder
has provided the following form to their CSDP or broker in respect of uncertificated shares, or the
company, in respect of certificated shares:
a) a declaration that the dividend is subject to a reduced rate as a result of the application of DTA; and
b) a written undertaking to inform their CSDP, broker or the company, should the circumstances
affecting the reduced rate change or the beneficial owner cease to be the beneficial owner,
both in the form prescribed by the Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service. Non-resident
Shareholders are advised to contact their CSDP, broker or the company to arrange for the
abovementioned documents to be submitted prior to payment of the dividend, if such documents have
not already been submitted.
Other information
The company's tax reference number is: 9027205245
Issued shares as at the declaration date: 476 151 609 ordinary shares of no par value
This short-form announcement is the responsibility of the Board and does not include full or complete
details. Any investment decision should be based as a whole on the audited consolidated annual
financial results ("full announcement"), which may be downloaded from:
https://senspdf.jse.co.za/documents/2024/jse/isse/SSSE/Finals.pdf
The full announcement is available for inspection at the registered offices of the company at no charge,
during office hours for a period of 30 calendar days following the date of this announcement. The full
announcement is also available on the company's investor relations website at: https://investor-
relations.stor-age.co.za
The short-form announcement has not been audited or reviewed by the company's external auditors.
The audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024 were audited by BDO
South Africa Incorporated, who expressed an unmodified opinion thereon.
OUTLOOK
The much-needed relief from high interest rates has yet to materialise. Central banks remain cautious
on monetary policy and inflation concerns with the "higher for longer" narrative persisting. Geopolitical
tensions and conflicts will inevitably have unintended consequences that we cannot control as will the
longer-term repercussions from the recent national elections with coalitions and future policy direction
remaining uncertain.
Over the past year we delivered exceptionally strong results in SA and although the UK presented a
more challenging environment compared to the last few years, the business is well positioned from a
strategic, financial and operational perspective in both markets. We will continue to consider acquisition
and development opportunities in SA albeit we remain very circumspect with capital allocation. Our
offshore growth is constrained by a high cost of capital and the capital-light management strategy
remains the preferred option for growth in international markets. We remain confident in our business
model which has proved its resilience through multiple economic crises.
The board expects distributable income per share to be approximately 122 to 126 cents for FY25.
Since its listing in 2015, Stor-Age has maintained a 100% dividend payout ratio. Given the current high
cost of capital, and in line with the prudent management of its financial position, the board is considering
lowering the payout to ratio to 90-95% of distributable income. The group has carried forward assessed
losses of approximately R373 million (which arose in the period prior to Stor-Age's listing) which would
minimise potential tax leakage. Under the UK REIT rules, at least 90% of property rental profits must
be distributed to shareholders as a dividend and we do not anticipate any material adverse tax
implications in the UK from retaining any portion thereof (subject to satisfying the UK REIT rules). No
final decision has yet been made by the board and we intend engaging with shareholders prior to
finalising the dividend policy for FY25.
This guidance is based on the following assumptions:
Specific assumptions
- Demand levels for self storage remain in line with expectation
- Occupancy and rental rate growth is in line with management's forecast
- Third-party management revenue streams increase in line with management's forecast
Macroeconomic assumptions
- There is no unforeseen and / or significant deterioration in the macroeconomic environment or other
factors that are beyond our control
- The recent improvement in energy supply and lower levels of load-shedding is maintained
- No further increases in interest rates in FY25
- The GBP/ZAR exchange rate remains materially unchanged
This guidance is provided in good faith, however there is no guarantee that management's expectations,
projections or assumptions will be achieved. This guidance has not been reviewed or reported on by
the company's auditors.
By order of the Board
18 June 2024
GA Blackshaw (Chairman)•, GM Lucas (CEO)*, JAL Chapman#, KM de Kock#, SJ Horton*, AA
Koranteng#, SC Lucas*+, AC Menigo#, MPR Morojele#, A Varachhia#
• Non-executive
# Independent non-executive
* Executive
+ British citizen
Company secretary
HH-O Steyn
Registered office and business address
216 Main Road, Claremont, 7708
Transfer secretaries
Computershare Investor Services Proprietary Limited
2nd Floor, Rosebank Towers
15 Biermann Avenue, Rosebank 2196
Equity Sponsor
Investec Bank Limited
100 Grayston Drive
Sandton 2196
Debt Sponsor
Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking, a division of Nedbank Limited
135 Rivonia Road
Sandton 2196
____________________
SA – South Africa
UK – United Kingdom
GLA – gross lettable area
m² – square metres
JV – joint venture
FY25 – financial year ending 31 March 2025
Date: 18-06-2024 08:00:00
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