REG - Unite Group PLC - Trading update and Q1 fund valuations

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RNS Number : 9004Z  Unite Group PLC (The)  10 April 2026

PRESS RELEASE

10 April 2026

THE UNITE GROUP PLC

('Unite Group, 'Unite', the 'Group', or the 'Company')

TRADING UPDATE AND Q1 FUND VALUATIONS

 

Unite Group, the UK's leading owner, manager and developer of student
accommodation, today announces an update on current trading and quarterly
property valuations for the Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund ('USAF') and
the London Student Accommodation Joint Venture ('LSAV') as at 31 March 2026.

 

Highlights

·    74% of beds reserved for 2026/27 sales cycle (2025/26: 76%)

·    Guidance reiterated for occupancy and rental growth at lower end of
93-96% and 2-3% ranges for 2026/27 academic year

·    On track to deliver guidance for £300-400 million of asset disposals
in 2026

·    £130 million of disposals completed or under offer and marketing a
further c.£500 million of assets for disposal in the next 6-12 months (Unite
share basis)

·    Advisers appointed to support acceleration of further asset disposals
to reposition towards higher-quality portfolio aligned to the strongest
universities

·    £85 million deployed of £100 million share buyback programme with
further capital expected to be deployed as disposals complete

·    Valuation decrease in Q1 driven by yield expansion (USAF: (1.7%),
LSAV (2.4%))

 

The Company will host a conference call for investors and analysts this
morning at 08:30 BST. Joining details are:

Title                 Unite - Q1 Trading update

Weblink           https://brrmedia.news/UTG_Q1_26
(https://brrmedia.news/UTG_Q1_26)

 

A recording will be available on the Company's website following the call.

 

Joe Lister, Unite Group Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"Our strategy is focused on increasing our alignment to the UK's leading
universities where we see the strongest prospects for housing demand and
future rental growth. To achieve this, we have already increased our disposal
programme and the Board is exploring options to further accelerate our
transition to a more focused, higher-quality portfolio, which would release
surplus capital for reinvestment into share buybacks or University
Partnerships consistent with our capital allocation framework.

 

We are being proactive in driving income through both our partnerships with
universities and direct-let sales channels and reservations for the 2026/27
academic year have progressed in line with our expectations as set out at our
Preliminary results."

 

Current trading

2026/27 lettings performance

Across the Unite Students' portfolio, 74% of beds are now reserved for the
2026/27 academic year (2025/26: 76%). This includes 54% of beds let to
universities under nomination agreements and 20% of beds let through
direct-let sales (2025/26: 58% and 18% respectively).

 

Our sales progress for the 2026/27 academic year remains in line with the
guidance provided at our Preliminary results for an outturn at the lower end
of 93-96% occupancy and 2-3% rental growth (2025/26: 95.2% and 4.0%).

 

Undergraduate applicants will confirm their course choices for the 2026/27
academic year in the period between now and the UCAS deadline in late June. We
are encouraged by active discussions with a number of high-quality university
partners for new multi-year nomination agreements to secure future income.
This is balanced with some low and mid-tariff universities seeking to manage
their financial exposure to beds until they have greater clarity on student
numbers. Direct-let sales are slightly ahead of last year reflecting steady
demand, targeted pricing adjustments and promotional activity to drive income.

 

Empiric (Hello Student) update

Bookings for the Hello Student portfolio continue to progress in line with the
expectations set out at our Preliminary results. 33% of rooms are now reserved
for the 2026/27 academic year (2025/26: 48%), reflecting a delayed start to
the sales cycle following a technology upgrade in late 2025 and expiry of
single-year nomination agreements. We have made a number of interventions to
Empiric's sales plan, including onboarding their properties with our
international sales team and agent network, which has driven an acceleration
in bookings in recent weeks. We continue to expect Hello Student to achieve
occupancy of around 85% for the 2026/27 academic year, in line with Unite's
direct-let sales. This assumes a typical acceleration of sales to
international and postgraduate students later in the booking cycle.

 

The integration of Empiric continues to progress well and to date we have
delivered £3 million of annualised cost synergies. We remain confident in
delivering our targets for £9 million in cost synergies in 2026 and £17
million p.a. from 2027 onwards.

 

Cost management

Our hedging strategy for utility costs means we are well protected in the
near-term from the impact of recent increases in energy prices following the
onset of the conflict in Iran. Our utility costs are fully hedged through 2026
and c.70% for 2027 through forward hedges and multi-year Power Purchase
Agreements for renewable energy. The commodity element of our power and gas
use accounts for around 10% of our cost base (property operating cost and
overheads).

 

At 31 March, 100% of the Group's debt was subject to fixed or capped interest
rates, providing protection against future changes in interest rates.

 

Given the benefit of our existing hedging for utilities and debt, we do not
expect recent market events to materially impact our financial performance in
2026.

 

Renters' Rights Act

The Renters' Rights Act introduces new regulations for HMO landlords and
rights for tenants with effect from 1 May 2026. Our existing tenancies for the
2025/26 academic year will be subject to transitional arrangements in the
period between May and September 2026, consistent with the wider residential
sector. All new PBSA tenancies for the 2026/27 academic year will be exempt
from the regulations.

 

For HMO landlords, the most significant changes are a ban on tenants entering
tenancy agreements more than six months before the start date and the ability
for students to exit HMO tenancies with two months' notice. We expect the new
regulations to be beneficial to PBSA over time, contributing to the trend of
declining supply of HMOs.

 

Capital allocation

Disposal activity

We are on track to deliver our guidance for £300-400 million (Unite share) of
disposals this year as we deliver on our strategy to increase our alignment to
the strongest universities and enhance the quality of our portfolio. In order
to support the delivery of this target, we are either under offer or actively
marketing a total of over £600 million of assets on a Unite share basis,
comprising:

 

·    £130 million of assets either completed or under offer on a Unite
share basis, including the sale of St Pancras Way to USAF for £126 million
(gross consideration: £186 million), which we expect to complete in May

·    A further c.£500 million of assets on a Unite share basis are being
actively marketed or prepared for sale, including lower-growth assets,
non-PBSA properties, development land and planned disposals from Empiric,
which we expect to transact over the next 6-12 months.

 

Our planned disposals include a portfolio of c.7,000 beds in exit cities and
lower-growth locations for which we have seen strong initial interest from
investors, reflecting the portfolio's affordable rents and capital values
significantly below replacement cost. The portfolio has a lower level of
occupancy, nomination agreements and operating margins than the wider
portfolio and would enhance the income visibility and growth prospects of the
retained estate.

 

Our management and the Board are focused on positioning the Group to deliver
predictable and growing earnings consistent with our long-term track record.
As a result, the Board has appointed Goldman Sachs to consider the best way to
accelerate disposals and its repositioning towards a more focused,
higher-quality portfolio aligned to the strongest universities and will
provide investors with further updates in due course.

 

Development update

Construction is approaching completion at our 719-bed Hawthorne House project
in Stratford, London which is on track to complete in June. The project
requires transitional approval from the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) in
advance of occupation in September and we are working with the BSR to secure
approval in time for the start of the academic year. Half of the beds are
underpinned by a long-term nomination agreement with the University of the
Arts London and we are seeing healthy demand for the remaining beds from both
universities and direct-let sales.

 

Share buyback programme

To date, we have acquired 17 million shares at a cost of £85 million out of
the initial £100 million share buyback announced in January. We remain on
track to complete the share buyback programme by 30 June 2026.

 

As we generate proceeds from our disposal programme, we expect to commit to
additional share buybacks out of surplus capital. At our upcoming AGM, we are
seeking authority to repurchase up to 14.99% of share capital in anticipation
of progressing disposals.

 

Quarterly fund valuations

At 31 March 2026, USAF's property portfolio was independently valued
at £2,798 million, a 1.7% reduction on a like-for-like basis during the
quarter. The valuation decrease reflects quarterly rental growth of 0.1%,
offset by 9 basis points of yield expansion. USAF's portfolio is now valued at
a weighted average yield of 5.4%. The portfolio comprises 22,361 beds in 56
properties across 17 university towns and cities in the UK.

 

LSAV's property portfolio was independently valued at £2,034 million, a 2.4%
reduction on a like-for-like basis during the quarter. The valuation decrease
in LSAV is driven by quarterly rental growth of 0.4%, offset by 13 basis
points of yield expansion. LSAV's portfolio is now valued at a weighted
average yield of 4.8%. LSAV's portfolio comprises 9,710 beds across 14
properties in London and Aston Student Village in Birmingham.

 

 Drivers of LfL capital growth (Q1)
       Valuation    Rental growth  Yield movement  Capital growth*

       March 2026
 USAF  £2,798m      0.1%           +9bps           (1.7%)
 LSAV  £2,034m      0.4%           +13bps          (2.4%)

 

* Capital growth presented net of capital expenditure for property maintenance
and improvement, but excludes fire safety spend

 

AGM Statement

The Company will provide a further update on current trading on the morning of
its Annual General Meeting on 15 May.

 

 

ENDS

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Unite Group

Joe Lister / Mike Burt / Saxon
Ridley
            Tel: +44 117 302 7005

Press office
                                             Tel: +44
117 450 6300

 

Sodali & Co

Ben Foster / Sam Austrums / Louisa
Henry
            Tel: +44 20 7250 1446

 

About Unite Group

Unite Group is the UK's largest owner, manager and developer of purpose-built
student accommodation (PBSA) serving the country's world-leading higher
education sector. We provide homes to 72,000 students across 208 properties in
29 leading university towns and cities. We currently partner with over 60
universities across the UK.

Our people are driven by a common purpose: to provide a 'Home for Success' for
the students who live with us. Our accommodation is safe and secure, high
quality and affordable. Students live predominantly in en-suite study bedrooms
with rents covering all bills, insurance, 24-hour security and high-speed
Wi-Fi.

We are committed to raising standards in the student accommodation sector for
our customers, investors and employees. Our Sustainability Strategy includes a
commitment to become net zero carbon across our operations and developments by
2030.

Founded in 1991 in Bristol, the Unite Group is an award-winning Real Estate
Investment Trust (REIT), listed on the London Stock Exchange. For more
information, visit www.unitegroup.com (http://www.unitegroup.com) ,
www.unitestudents.com (http://www.unitestudents.com) or www.hellostudent.co.uk
(http://www.hellostudent.co.uk) .

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