Watkin Jones plc Pre-Close Trading Statement (4170U)
April 07 2016 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMWJG
RNS Number : 4170U
Watkin Jones plc
07 April 2016
For immediate release 7 April 2016
Watkin Jones plc
('Watkin Jones' or the 'Group')
Pre-Close Trading Statement
Watkin Jones plc (AIM:WJG), a leading UK developer and
constructor of multi occupancy property assets, with a focus on the
student accommodation sector, announces its pre-close trading
statement for the half year ended 31 March 2016.
The Board is pleased to report a successful first six months of
the financial year with trading in line with its expectations. The
Group had net cash as at 31 March 2016 in excess of GBP12.5
million.
During March 2016, four student accommodation developments in
Glasgow, Birmingham, Bath and Sheffield, representing 1,175 beds in
total were forward sold with a gross development value of GBP82
million. A total of 16 developments, comprising 6,395 beds, have
now been forward sold, including all of the developments planned to
be completed by September 2016 and 7 of the 9 planned to be
completed by September 2017, and the Group is on site to deliver
these developments. Watkin Jones has a further three developments
totaling over 900 beds, under offer and in legal negotiations and a
number of other planning applications have been submitted in
respect of the ongoing pipeline.
During March 2016, the Group's asset management subsidiary,
Fresh Student Living, secured a further 536 bed scheme in Glasgow,
which brings the total number of beds expected to be under
management for the start of the 2016 academic year to 12,663.
The Group's progress in delivering the current development
pipeline is encouraging and the Board remains confident in the
outlook for the full year.
Mark Watkin Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Watkin Jones plc,
said: "Our performance over the past six months reinforces the
attractiveness of our end-to-end business model to institutional
investors. The transition to a public company has gone very
smoothly and I am delighted by the positive response to our
successful admission to AIM on 23 March."
The Company will be announcing its Interim Results on Thursday,
9 June 2016. An analyst briefing will be held at 09.30hrs at the
offices of Buchanan, 107 Cheapside, London EC2V 6DN.
- Ends -
For further information:
Watkin Jones plc
Mark Watkin Jones, Chief Tel: +44 (0) 1248 362
Executive Officer 516
Philip Byrom, Chief Financial www.watkinjonesplc.com
Officer
Zeus Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser
& Joint Broker)
Corporate Finance
Dan Bate / Nick Cowles / Jamie Peel Tel: +44 (0) 161 831
1512
Corporate Broking Tel: +44 (0) 20 3829
5000
Dominic King / Benjamin Robertson www.zeuscapital.co.uk
Peel Hunt LLP (Joint Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 20 7418
8900
Mike Bell / Matthew Brooke-Hitching www.peelhunt.com
Media enquiries:
Buchanan
Henry Harrison-Topham / Richard Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466
Oldworth / Helen Chan 5000
watkinjones@buchanan.uk.com www.buchanan.uk.com
Notes to Editors
Watkin Jones is a leading UK developer and constructor of multi
occupancy property assets, with a focus on the student
accommodation sector. The Group has strong relationships with
institutional investors, and a good reputation for successful,
on-time-delivery of high quality developments. Since 1999, Watkin
Jones has delivered over 28,000 student beds across 88 sites,
making it a key player and leader in the UK purpose built student
accommodation market. In addition, Watkin Jones has been
responsible for over 50 residential developments, ranging from
starter homes to executive housing and apartments.
The Group's competitive advantage lies in its business model,
which enables it to offer an end to end solution for investors,
delivered entirely in-house with minimal reliance on third parties,
across the entire life cycle of an asset. Key components of the
business model are:
-- Site identification - extensive experience of site
identification and acquisition facilitates high quality sites being
acquired;
-- Planning consents - in depth knowledge and experience of the
planning consent process specific to this type of asset facilitates
high success rates on planning applications;
-- In-house construction and delivery - in-house construction
expertise, management and delivery limits reliance on third parties
and, together with favourable contractual relationships with key
suppliers, enhances control of cost;
-- Funding structure - forward sale model reduces risk for
Watkin Jones and provides security and visibility of the asset
pipeline for investors. The Group has strong relationships with
blue chip investors, including a number that are repeat investors
in Watkin Jones developments; and
-- Asset management - dedicated property management division
provides a continued service solution to investors post development
completion and completes the 'end to end' business model.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
TSTSSIFIMFMSELL
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 07, 2016 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Watkin Jones (LSE:WJG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Watkin Jones (LSE:WJG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024