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# Stor-Age raises its dividend as South African customers pay more to store their things
- URL: https://www.businessbagel.com/stor-age-raises-dividend-south-africans-pay-more-to-store/
- Published: 2026-11-12T03:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-12T02:59:59.000Z
- Description: Rental income at home rose 9.5% while the UK barely grew, and the self-storage group is now buying 10 more properties for R387 million.
- Author: Christian Maidman
- Tags: Companies, Business Bagel News

Stor-Age, South Africa's largest self-storage property fund, has raised its interim dividend by 4% to 62.14 cents per share for the six months to September, and its South African business did most of the lifting. Distributable income per share also rose 4% to 69.04 cents, and headline earnings per share climbed 8.6%. Rental income here rose 9.5%, while in the UK it grew just 0.9%. The group owns 112 properties, 65 in South Africa and 47 in the UK, and serves more than 57,000 customers, with the portfolio valued at R19.3 billion. South Africans, it turns out, are pretty good business for Stor-Age.

## Higher prices at home, a slow UK

The local growth came mainly from charging more. Average rental rates rose 8.4%, with only a marginal uptick in occupied space. Domestic occupancy closed at 91.4%, down from 92.1%, which Moneyweb describes as a deliberate choice to prioritise pricing power over filling space. CEO Gavin Lucas says the South African business is well positioned going into its traditionally stronger summer trading period. The UK is a different story. Lucas says that business performed well in a sector trading towards the bottom of the cycle, and management sees it as a cyclical correction after strong demand between 2021 and 2023\. UK occupancy sits at 81.5%.

## A bigger footprint, and a challenge

Stor-Age is also expanding. It completed new properties in Ballito and Vredenburg during the period, and two Lock-Up Storage properties in KwaZulu-Natal are expected to transfer in December. The bigger move is an agreement to buy 10 Xtraspace properties for R387 million, with a further R38 million of improvements planned, which would expand its South African space by roughly 12%. It will also take on a two-year contract to manage another six Xtraspace properties. But there's a catch. The deal still needs competition approval, and according to Business Day, unlisted logistics and property group Inospace has challenged the purchase.

For the full year, the board still expects distributable income per share to grow about 5%, with 90% of it paid out. Its loan-to-value ratio sits at 27.3%. If the Xtraspace deal goes through, Stor-Age's South African growth engine gets bigger. If it doesn't, the group will have to keep leaning on higher rents.