Unite Students saw earnings and dividends return to above their pre-pandemic peak last year. For the company’s full-year 2022 results, Unite delivered adjusted earnings of £163.4m and adjusted EPS of 40.9p – a 48% year-on-year increase – with an IFRS profit before tax of £358m.
Its LTV increased to 31% during the year, which Unite said reflected the ‘positive impact of rental growth in our property valuations and the increase in net debt to fund our investment activity. This provides the financial headroom to deliver our committed development pipeline and pursue new growth opportunities’.
The company said 83% of rooms are now sold for the 2023/24 academic year, which is significantly ahead of pre-pandemic levels (2022/23: 67%). Due to this strong demand Unite expects to deliver rental growth of 6-7% for 2023/24.
Richard Smith, chief executive of Unite Students, said: “We delivered a strong operational performance in 2022, with earnings and dividends surpassing their pre-pandemic level, driven by a return to full occupancy, improving rental growth and investment into our estate.
“The outlook for the business and the UK higher education sector is strong with demand underpinned by demographic growth, high application rates and increasing international student numbers. PBSA supply cannot keep pace with growing student demand at the same time as HMO landlords are leaving the sector.
“We are confident that new development opportunities will emerge over the next 12 months, which we remain uniquely positioned to deliver through our university relationships and development capability. Our strong leasing performance also supports earnings growth in 2023 despite higher interest and operating costs.
“We recognise the cost-of-living pressures being faced by students and parents and are confident that our fixed price all-inclusive offer, student support programmes and balanced approach to rental increases will continue to provide value for money.”
