Simon’s stock tips

STOR-AGE

Packing a punch

elf-storage property fund Stor-Age* has again showed how resilient its business model is, despite economic conditions. It does well in good and bad times as clients’ needs shift – this sees some clients exit, but then a new group of clients gets added. Full-year financial results to end-March were solid and saw an increased dividend (with a scrip option). Much of the business model revolves around building scale as they generate leads online. But, more importantly, is that when they build a new storage facility in an area, they essentially lock out any competitors as the Stor-Age brand is extremely hard to compete with. The company’s UK business is doing very well. Stor-Age has a loan-to-value ratio in the low 30s, which means debt is hardly an issue. I bought some shares just