Real estate investment trust Stor-Age has achieved a 9.1% year-on-year increase in dividends a share to 51.3c apiece for the six months ended September 30, underpinned by solid organic growth in its South African and UK portfolios and the successful integration of acquisitions.

Stor-Age reported profit for the period of R112-million, compared with R136-million in the six months ended September 30, 2017.

The company’s South African rental income rose by 17.4% (like-for-like 9.4%) to R212-million, compared with R110-million in the prior period, while net property operating income rose by 14.2% (like-for-like 9.8%) to R165-million, compared with R89-million in the prior period.

The Stor-Age portfolio comprises 63 self-storage properties, with 49 of them in South Africa and 14 in the UK. The South African portfolio is valued at R3.8-billion and the UK portfolio, under the Storage King brand, is valued at R1.5-billion.

For the period, Stor-Age’s total portfolio occupancy increased by 72 400 m2 – 26 000 m2 in South Africa and 46 400 m2 in the UK.

The company reported a closing occupancy rate of 83.5% for South Africa and 81.2% for the UK.

The gross leasable area in the South African portfolio closed at a total 268 400 m2 for the period, compared with 234 900 m2 in the prior comparable period, owing to the acquisitions of StorTown in November 2017 and All-Store Self Storage in April this year, as well as a development in Bryanston that opened in September and expansions at existing properties.

In October, Stor-Age also completed the acquisition of a managed portfolio valued at R5.3-billion, for R58-million, comprising 12 properties, of which nine are high-quality “big box” type stores and six have already reached mature occupancy levels.

The resilience of the Stor-Age business model continues to be tested by a harsh macro climate in South Africa, said the company; however, Stor-Age anticipates a full-year distribution growth of between 9% and 10% for the year ending March 31, 2019.