17th May 2007 09:42
Unite Group PLC17 May 2007 17 May 2007 The UNITE Group plcChairman's AGM Statement The UNITE Group plc, the UK's leading student hospitality company, is holdingits Annual General Meeting today at 9.30 am, The Core, 40 St. Thomas Street,Bristol, BS1 6JZ. Highlights to be announced are as follows: Acquisition and development • 10,256 beds in the pipeline for delivery 2008 to 2010, up 32% from 7,787 beds at the year end 2006. • Acquisition in February of a £114.5 million portfolio of complementary assets in Liverpool, Sheffield, Manchester and Leicester. Fund management • Successful second closing of the UNITE UK Student Accommodation Fund. Portfolio performance • Room reservations for forthcoming academic year at 68% to the current date. Geoffrey Maddrell, UNITE's Chairman, will review 2006 and 2007 progress, makingthe following comments during the meeting: "2006 was a landmark year for UNITE, underpinned by strong performance in allareas of our business and the maturing of the student accommodation sector intoa widely recognised institutional grade asset class. The key measure of ourbusiness, adjusted fully diluted net asset value per share, increased by 17% to425p. A highlight of the year was the creation of UNITE's UK Student AccommodationFund (the "Fund") for which UNITE acts as property and fund manager, and thetransformation of UNITE's business model to that of a co-investing fund andasset manager and developer. Following an over-subscribed second closing inApril 2007, attracting a 7.5% premium to initial issue price, the Fund is fullynow capitalised to reach its £1 billion investment target. Following the secondclosing, UNITE's stake in the Fund has reduced to 29.3%, representing aco-investment equity stake of £72.7 million. Alongside this important strategic move, we continued to expand our portfoliothroughout the year, stepping up our acquisition, planning and developmentactivity. During 2006 we acquired 19 additional development properties worth anestimated £461 million and secured 13 planning consents and successfullycompleted, commissioned and opened nine properties for the 2006/07 academicyear, delivering a total of 3,519 new beds. Of these, 63% were delivered usingthe Group's modular manufacturing technology, up from 51% in 2005. During thecourse of the year we also further developed our modular capability to allow theconstruction of eleven-storey buildings, an increase of the previous limit ofseven storeys and commenced the construction of two new projects utilising thistechnology. As already announced, progress in acquisition and development has beenmaintained during the first four months of 2007. In February we successfullyconcluded the acquisition of a £114.5 million portfolio of complementary assetsfrom Base Limited and we have a robust pipeline of development projects, withcompletion dates stretching through to 2010, providing predictable futuregrowth: • A total of 3,691 beds, worth an estimated £241 million on completion, are scheduled to open later in 2007 across fifteen properties. • The total pipeline of secured beds for anticipated delivery in 2008 to 2010 now stands at 10,256 across 31 projects of which 2,878 are in the strategically important market of London. • A number of the newly acquired London projects will be developed in UNITE's Capital Cities joint venture with GIC Real Estate. As a result, the joint venture's committed funds are now fully allocated to projects and all future London developments will be undertaken on UNITE's balance sheet. Demand for our accommodation remains strong and room reservations for theforthcoming academic year are at 68% to the current date, compared to 70% at thesame point in 2006, in line with expectations across a larger direct letportfolio. In conclusion, UNITE's Board is pleased with your company's progress and thesuccess of our growth strategy. We are well set to achieve our strategy todouble net rent from the student accommodation portfolio over the next fiveyears and our ongoing commitment to lead our market and deliver shareholdervalue continues to drive the business. We look forward to continued futuregrowth." END For further details please contact: Enquiries: UNITEMark Allan, Chief Executive 0117 302 7000Tabitha Aldrich-Smith 0117 302 7000 Financial DynamicsStephanie Highett / Dido Laurimore 020 7831 3113 Notes to editors: • UNITE is the UK's leading student hospitality company. Listed in the FTSE 250 index of the London Stock Exchange and managing a property portfolio of £1.6 billion located across the UK, the Group focuses on the provision and management of high quality, well-located student accommodation and hospitality services in strong higher education markets. • UNITE delivers the real student experience, whilst at the same time helping to regenerate cities as part of the community and contributing to the improvement of the country's housing. It undertakes the planning, development and management of sites, often working closely with the universities and colleges, to deliver accommodation for students across all ages and nationalities. UNITE developments typically show high occupancy levels and robust rental growth as demand continues to rise for places in UK Higher Education and for safe, high quality accommodation for students. Further information on UNITE is available at www.unite-group.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Unite