Safestore Holdings Reports Strong H1 2026 Results with Return to Earnings Growth

Safestore also keeps a close eye on REVPAF, or revenue per available square foot. It is one of the best measures for a storage business because it blends pricing and occupancy into one number. Group REVPAF rose 5.0% to £28.11, while like-for-like REVPAF rose 6.3% to £29.08.

Closing occupancy improved to 75.1% from 74.4%. Maximum lettable area rose 4.4% to 9.5 million sq ft, showing the expansion programme is still adding muscle.

• UK: revenue up 3.3% to £83.9 million, with like-for-like growth of 2.4%
• Paris: revenue up 4.6% to €26.7 million, with like-for-like growth of 1.8%
• Expansion Markets: revenue up 25.7% to €15.4 million, with like-for-like growth of 16.8%

The UK looks steady rather than spectacular, but there is a clever operational lever at work. Safestore is converting larger units into smaller ones, which better match domestic demand and carry higher rates per square foot. That helped UK like-for-like average rates rise 6.5%.

Paris is a bit more mixed. Revenue still grew, but occupancy fell as new stores opened and took some demand from older sites. Management had already flagged this cannibalisation, so it is not a bolt from the blue, but it is still the softest regional datapoint in the release.

The real star remains the Expansion Markets – Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium. These markets delivered strong occupancy gains, strong REVPAF growth and a sharp rise in profitability. For investors, that is important because it shows Safestore’s European growth story is not just theory on a slide deck.

Safestore expansion pipeline – four new stores opened and £30 million to £35 million EBITDA still in sight

This is where the long-term case gets interesting. Safestore invested £33.6 million in store development in the half and opened four new stores in Paris, London and Madrid, adding 192,000 sq ft of maximum lettable area.

There is more to come. The group expects another 224,600 sq ft of additional maximum lettable area in H2 2026, with a further 733,300 sq ft in FY 2027 and beyond.

Management says non-like-for-like stores and the existing pipeline should add £30 million to £35 million of EBITDA on stabilisation. EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and some other non-cash items, so it is a common profit measure for property-heavy businesses.

That target is unchanged, which is reassuring. It suggests new stores are performing broadly as planned, despite the short-term profit drag that fresh openings naturally create before they fill up.

Safestore balance sheet, debt and dividend – still strong, but interest costs are the watchpoint

The balance sheet remains in decent nick. Net assets were £2.3 billion, loan to value was 29.1%, and interest cover was 3.9x. Those are comfortable enough numbers for a property business, and well inside covenant limits.

That said, debt is higher. Net debt increased to £1,100.8 million from £1,058.6 million at FY 2025. That is not surprising given the development programme, but it does mean financing costs matter more now.

And management has been pretty clear on the snag: higher floating interest rates are expected to push underlying net finance costs up by £2 million to £3 million for the full year. That is why Safestore said FY 2026 EPS should land at the lower end of the analyst consensus range of 41.5p to 43.7p, with consensus at 42.4p.

So yes, the trading is good, but more of that gain is being handed over to lenders. That is the main reason this update is positive rather than knockout.

On shareholder returns, the interim dividend rises to 10.2p from 10.1p. It is only a 1.0% increase, but it fits the company’s progressive dividend policy and suggests the board is comfortable with the cash profile.

What Safestore H1 2026 results mean for investors

My view: this is a good update, and a fairly clean one once you look past the property valuation noise. Core trading improved, earnings growth returned, cash flow strengthened, and the development pipeline is beginning to contribute properly.

The positives are clear:

• revenue growth across all geographies
• improving adjusted earnings
• strong performance from newer European markets
• a sizeable development pipeline with projected future EBITDA upside

The negatives are also clear:

• statutory profit looks weak because property gains disappeared
• Paris occupancy is under pressure from expansion-related cannibalisation
• higher interest rates are capping how much earnings can flow through

Overall, Safestore looks like a business doing the right things operationally, with timing effects muddying the headline numbers. For long-term investors, the most encouraging line in this RNS is not the dividend or even the EPS growth. It is that the heavy investment of recent years is now starting to turn into revenue and earnings growth.

That is what matters. And if management executes on the pipeline without letting debt costs run away, there should be more to come.