On 23 September 2026, Abacus Group sold 59.0 million Storage King securities to Ki Corporation for A$70.8 million, or A$1.20 each. That price sits about 32 per cent below the net tangible assets Storage King reported in August, almost exactly the discount at which Dexus Industria REIT was buying back its own units the following day.

The matching discounts hide very different rental stories. Storage King (ASX:SKG) earns short-term, flexible rent from self-storage customers, while Dexus Industria REIT (ASX:DXI) collects contracted rent from industrial tenants on multi-year leases. Comparing how each lifted rent in FY26 shows why the market may be pricing them similarly for different reasons.

Two ways of charging rent

Storage King is a stapled group that owns and operates self-storage centres in Australia and New Zealand. Customers typically rent units on flexible terms, so pricing can be reset quickly but occupancy can also slip. Its key rental measure is RevPAM, or Revenue per available square metre, which combines occupancy and the rate charged.

The group became internally managed on 30 June 2026, ending its external management arrangement with Abacus Group. It expects about $7 million of annualised cost savings and says the change should be around 6 per cent accretive to Funds From Operations (FFO) per security on a pro forma basis. FFO is the REIT sector's measure of recurring earnings, excluding valuation movements.

Dexus Industria is externally managed by Dexus and, after selling Brisbane Technology Park for $155.7 million in two tranches, now describes itself as a pure-play industrial REIT. According to the Dexus fund page, it held 90 properties worth $1.5 billion at 30 June 2026. Its FY26 Annual Report shows management fees of $8.3 million for the year.

What FY26 rent growth looked like

Storage King's FY26 results, released on 14 August 2026 for the year to 30 June, showed group RevPAM up just 0.7 per cent to $341 per square metre, with rental rates up 1.3 per cent. Group occupancy fell 100 basis points to 90.2 per cent.

The split by country matters. Australian RevPAM rose 2.7 per cent to $348 per square metre, while New Zealand RevPAM fell 11.7 per cent to A$295. According to a summary of the results presentation, Australian rates rose 3.0 per cent to $384 per square metre while Australian occupancy eased 30 basis points to 90.7 per cent.

Dexus Industria's figures, released on 12 August 2026, are much stronger on rent. Like-for-like income, which compares the same properties year on year, grew 5.3 per cent. The trust signed 169,693 square metres across 34 leasing deals, and re-leasing spreads were 21.4 per cent, meaning new rents exceeded the expiring ones by that Margin on average.

Contracted increases underpin that growth. The presentation reported average fixed rent reviews of 3.3 per cent, with 87 per cent of income subject to annual increases of at least 3 per cent. Occupancy was 98.8 per cent by income and the weighted average Lease expiry (WALE), the income-weighted time left on leases, was 5.2 years.

Earnings fell at both, for different reasons

Despite the rent gap, FFO per security fell at both trusts. Storage King's FFO was $82.1 million, down 3.4 per cent, or 6.24 cents per security. Dexus Industria's FFO was 17.6 cents per security, down from 18.2 cents, although it beat upgraded guidance of 17.4 cents. The trust attributed the decline mainly to the Brisbane Technology Park sale and higher Debt costs.

FY26 (year to 30 June)

Storage King (SKG)

Dexus Industria (DXI)

FFO per security

6.24c

17.6c

Distribution

6.20c

16.6c

NTA per security

$1.77

$3.42

Occupancy

90.2%

98.8% (by income)

Gearing

33.7%

31.2% (look-through)

FY27 distribution guidance

4.50c

16.6c

Our comparison: the same discount, different payouts

By our calculation, Abacus's sale price of $1.20 was about 32 per cent below Storage King's NTA of $1.77 per security ($1.20 ÷ $1.77 = 0.68). Dexus Industria's buy-back notice shows purchases at $2.33 to $2.35 on 24 September, roughly 31 to 32 per cent below its $3.42 NTA. NTA is the value of property and other tangible assets, less debt and liabilities, per security.

Where they part ways is distribution policy. Storage King paid out about 99 per cent of FY26 FFO but has guided to 4.50 cents in FY27 after widening its payout range to 80 to 100 per cent, retaining cash to fund 16 planned stores adding about 110,000 square metres. At $1.20, that guidance equates to about 3.8 cents per dollar invested.

Dexus Industria has guided FFO of 17.0 cents and an unchanged 16.6 cent distribution for FY27, a payout of about 98 per cent. At $2.34, the midpoint of the 24 September buy-back range, that is roughly 7.1 cents per dollar. Its quarterly distribution of 4.15 cents has a Record Date of 30 September and payment on 11 November 2026.

Limits and risks to weigh

Self-storage and industrial leases are not like-for-like. Storage King's rent resets frequently, so growth can return quickly if Demand improves, but it can also fall quickly, as New Zealand showed. The group flagged elevated competition and discounting, rising interest costs as hedges roll off and New Zealand economic weakness. The presentation summary reported that 72 per cent of drawn debt was hedged.

Dexus Industria's contracted reviews provide more visibility, but a post-balance-date hedge restructure will reduce FY27 FFO by $1.4 million, and its cost of debt rose to 4.9 per cent. Its portfolio is also concentrated, with Western Australia representing 36 per cent by value.

Ownership is another Factor at Storage King. Abacus's substantial holder notice shows its voting power fell from 10.48 per cent to 5.99 per cent after the sale.

Indicators to watch

For Storage King, watch Australian occupancy and rate growth, any stabilisation in New Zealand, and whether internalisation savings flow through to FFO per security. For Dexus Industria, the key measures are re-leasing spreads, development leasing on its committed $70 million pipeline, and progress on a buy-back enlarged to 5 per cent of securities. About 8.6 million of a maximum 15.9 million units had been repurchased before 24 September.

Both trusts were held in the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries, according to the iShares Small Ordinaries ETF composition file, and neither was affected by the September 2026 index rebalance.