eKourier July 2020

Sam Kennard with Centre Manager Kemal Sermen, outside Kennards Self Storage Ultimo in Sydney.

MESSAGE FROM SAM L ike every family and business at this time we are adjusting to a different and uncertain future. been many people who now need us as they shift their business model or living arrangements.

capital, which will enable us to better pursue opportunities when they emerge in the future. Any new project that had not already commenced is being deferred. We are reviewing the status of these invest- ments every month. It is likely that we will see softer or erratic demand while battling existing and new competitors. None the less, our focus will be heavily on revenue and optimising growth from our existing assets. This also means we ensure we do the basics better than anyone else. Treasure every new enquiry. Check-in and follow up past enquiries. Improve our housekeeping. Get even better at pricing and become a leaner business. The list goes on. Finally, as things are changing so quickly, opportunities will also emerge. The nimble businesses should capitalise on them. We should seek to create new opportunities and look out for any that come to us.

One significant thing we have decided to do is to take a much more cautious approach to growth and large scale capital investment for the business. There are many views and opinions about the future economic growth we may expect in Australia and New Zealand. The economies in both countries has been shielded by large scale, but unsustainable, govern- ment hand-outs. It is obvious that the immediate future is very unclear, so we are deferring projects that are ready to build. The immediate economic disruption seems to have driven a significant amount of customer activity, which has been quite interesting to watch. The life events and business events that trigger the need for storage have been running hot. These changed circum- stances have caused some customers to leave us, while also there have

None the less, it is obvious the Covid-19 era has a long way to go. There will be lockdowns imposed and lifted, regula- tion changes, tax changes, government actions, business adaptations, and on it goes. We should expect a lot of volatility and uncertainty, with the media, as always, highlighting the most negativi- ties and problems they can find. In addition, the last few years before Covid-19 has seen significant amounts of new storage supply enter a number of our markets in our sector. Many new storage developments have opened, which now means there are some very competitive markets. This has already put pressure on our income and will take some time to settle down, particu- larly in the current climate. So in light of all this and like many other organisations, we believe it is time for capital preservation. We will save our

Sam Kennard Chief Executive Officer

3 Kennards Kourier July 2020

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