Empiric Student Property PLC Property Valuation & Trading Update (9366E)

TIDMESP

RNS Number : 9366E

Empiric Student Property PLC

15 February 2018

Empiric Student Property plc

("Empiric" or the "Company" or, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group")

Property Valuation & Trading Update

Empiric Student Property plc (ticker: ESP), the owner and operator of student accommodation across the UK, announces that the Group's property portfolio was independently valued by CBRE Ltd as at 31 December 2017 and on a like-for-like basis is slightly ahead compared to 30 June 2017. The portfolio valuation was GBP890.1 million, representing an increase of 23.4% for the full year and 8.8% for H2 2017 and was based on current levels of occupancy and on an industry standard asset-by-asset basis.

The increase in valuation has been driven largely by acquisitions, with yield compression, development progress and rental growth also contributing to uplifts in the majority of Empiric's towns and cities, which are continuing to see strong demand. However, this increase in value has been partially offset by certain assets where Empiric has faced operational challenges as previously reported.

The Group continues to focus fully on driving revenue and reducing costs and can report recent progress in line with the guidance provided in the November 2017 Trading Update. Bookings for the 2018/19 academic year are at 40% which is significantly ahead of last year and administration costs for H2 2017 have been reduced by 21% from GBP7.6 million for H1 2017 to circa GBP6.0 million.

The results for the year ended 31 December 2017 will be published on Wednesday 21 March 2018 and will include a full update on the Company's performance and progress made on the initiatives outlined in the Business Review.

For further information on the Company, please contact:

 
 Empiric Student Property plc         (via Newgate below) 
 Tim Attlee (Acting Chief Executive 
  Officer) 
 Lynne Fennah (Chief Financial 
  Officer) 
 
 Jefferies International Limited      Tel: 020 7029 8000 
 Gary Gould 
 Stuart Klein 
 
 Newgate (PR Adviser)                 Tel: 020 7680 6550 
 James Benjamin                       Em: empiric@newgatecomms.com 
 Anna Geffert 
 Leena Patel

The Company's LEI is 213800FPF38IBPRFPU87.

Further information on Empiric can be found on the Company's website at www.empiric.co.uk.

Notes:

Empiric Student Property plc is a leading provider and operator of modern, direct-let, nominated or leased student accommodation across the UK. Investing in both operating and development assets, Empiric is a multi-niche student property company focused on, (i) providing good quality first year accommodation managed through its Hello Student(R) operating platform in partnership with universities, (ii) offering a variety of second and third year purpose built accommodation options for individual students and those wanting a group living environment, and (iii) continuing to expand the Group's existing premium, studio-led accommodation portfolio which is attractive to international and postgraduate students.

The Company, an internally managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") incorporated in England and Wales, listed on the premium listing segment of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority and was admitted to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange in June 2014.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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February 15, 2018 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)

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