22nd Mar 2018 12:06
LONDON (Alliance News) - GCP Student Living PLC said on Thursday its net asset value increased in the first half of its financial year as the value of its property portfolio grew significantly over the period.
GCP Student said its rental income for the six months to the end of December was up to GBP17.3 million from GBP13.0 million for the same period the year before, with a pick up in rental growth to 4.1% from 3.9% over the academic year of 2017. This remains over the national average rental growth of 2.9%.
The student accommodation investor reported an EPRA net asset value per share as at December 31 of 146.31 pence, up from 138.17p the same date the year before, on a rise in the value of its property portfolio to GBP739.6 million from GBP465.7 million over the same period.
The fair value gain made on investment properties rose significantly to GBP32.4 million from GBP6.3 million the year before, leading to an steep increase in pretax profit to GBP38.8 million from GBP10.9 million.
GCP Student declared an interim dividend of 2.96 pence per share for the period, up from 2.86p the prior year.
"On behalf of the board, I am pleased to report a period of robust portfolio performance for the company. The valuation of the company's portfolio continues to benefit from yield compression arising from a combination of full occupancy, rental growth, operational efficiencies and competitive market activity for private student accommodation in and around London," said Chairman Robert Peto.
Shares in GCP Student Living were up 0.4% from 137.00 pence on Thursday.
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