Empiric Student Property (ESP) continues to make progress towards its target of managing 10,000 student beds. In the reported period, it added 2,515 new beds, taking the total to 8,504.
Despite all the uncertainty generated by the referendum, the average valuation yield of 5.9 per cent was an improvement on the 6.5 per cent yield on acquisition or cost, and the portfolio benefited from a £14.5m revaluation gain. Demand for purpose built accommodation remains strong, and the average rental uplift for the 2017-18 academic year has been targeted at 2.5 per cent.
Since the launch of its operating platform Hello Student early last year, around 3,075 rooms are now managed through it, and for the 2017-18 academic year this is expected to rise to 4,882 beds. The advantage here is that the platform brings together the back room operations to be managed in house, thus saving on fees paid to outsourcers. All beds are expected to be managed this way by September 2018. Empiric continues to develop its 2025 plan, which is to operate in four separate niche areas including affordable apartments, premium houses with large living spaces, two and three bedroom apartments and further co-operation with universities.
Analysts at Jefferies expect adjusted NAV of 116p at the end of 2017, from 105p a year earlier.
| EMPIRIC STUDENT PROPERTY (ESP) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 109.5p | MARKET VALUE: | £549m | |
| TOUCH: | 109.25-109.75p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 119p | LOW: 99p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 5.5% | DEVELOPMENT PROPERTIES: | £67m | |
| PREMIUM TO NAV: | 3% | NET DEBT: | 34% | |
| INVESTMENT PROPERTIES: | £649m* | |||
| Six months to 31 Dec | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015** | 105 | 14.0 | 4.4 | 3 |
| 2016 | 106 | 16.9 | 3.4 | 3.05 |
| % change | +1 | +21 | -23 | +2 |
Ex-div:- Payment: paid on 3 Feb *Includes joint ventures **Year-end changed to 31 Dec. Prior year figures are interim figures for the six months to Dec 2015 | ||||
