Unite Group PLC (The) Coronavirus update (1869G)
16 March 2020 - 6:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMUTG
RNS Number : 1869G
Unite Group PLC (The)
16 March 2020
Press release
16 March 2020
THE UNITE GROUP PLC
('Unite Students', 'Unite', the 'Group', or the ' Company ')
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
The Company notes the statements by a number of UK universities
in response to Coronavirus, confirming that some face-to-face
teaching has been suspended in the weeks leading up to Easter.
University campuses, libraries and halls of residence remain
open.
The safety and wellbeing of the students who live with us and
our employees remains our top priority. The Company continues to
operate all of its properties and has implemented advice from the
World Health Organisation and Public Health England. We are in
active dialogue with our university partners and will continue to
provide our students with support and access to the most up-to-date
information.
There has been no noticeable impact to date on Unite's sales
performance for the 2020/21 academic year. Reservations are
currently 77% (77% at the same time last year) and sales to and
enquiries from international students remain in line with prior
years.
We now plan to operate a reduced programme of summer business in
2020 given the risk of disruption to bookings. The removal of
variable costs associated with our summer business will help to
mitigate the impact on earnings, which we do not expect to be
material. Summer business accounted for 3% of rental income in
2019.
We will provide a further update in relation to Coronavirus as
appropriate. The quarterly valuation update for USAF and LSAV is
scheduled for 8 April.
- ENDS -
For further information, please contact:
Unite Students
Richard Smith / Joe Lister / Michael Tel: +44 (0)117 302 7005
Burt
Powerscourt Tel: +44 (0)20 7250 1446
Justin Griffiths / Victoria Heslop
Notes to editors:
About Unite Students
Unite Students is the UK's largest owner, manager and developer
of purpose-built student accommodation serving the country's
world-leading Higher Education sector.
Following our successful GBP1.4bn acquisition of Liberty
Living's UK assets in November 2019, we now provide homes to 74,000
students across 177 properties in 27 leading university towns and
cities.
Our people are driven by a common purpose: to provide a 'Home
for Success' for the students who live with us and to be the most
trusted brand in the sector. We do this through quality service,
quality people and quality properties, all designed on the basis of
an excellent insight into students' needs and preferences.
Unite's accommodation is high quality, affordable, safe and
secure, and located where students want to live. Students live
predominantly in en-suite study bedrooms with rents covering all
bills, insurance, 24-hour security and high-speed Wi-Fi. MyUnite,
our mobile app, provides practical support such as instant
messaging and maintenance requests.
We hold a five-star British Safety Council audit rating (out of
five) following an Occupational Health and Safety audit. The audit
measured our performance against a number of key safety management
indicators, providing an international benchmark for safety
management systems and indicating best practice for continual
improvement.
Our commitment to customer service is powered by an innovative,
in-house operating platform. It provides a wide range of benefits
to our students, such as an optimised online booking process, as
well as providing us with a unique ability to drive value from our
portfolio through scale efficiencies and revenue management.
Our other strategic priority is delivering growing and
sustainable earnings, underpinned by a strong capital structure. A
key part of this strategy is growing the number of beds let through
partnerships with the strongest UK universities, which are
experiencing record levels of student demand. We currently partner
with 45 universities across the UK, guaranteeing that 56% of our
rooms are let under 'nomination agreements' providing high
visibility of forward occupancy and rental growth.
Unite Students has spent years helping young people thrive in
new situations and help them manage the big 'Leap' to university
life. Our insight has identified a significant gap between student
expectations and reality. To support this leap, we have developed
the Leapskills programme, helping to prepare prospective students
for independent living. The programme introduces students to a
number of student life scenarios to provoke group discussion on
conflict resolution, problem solving and gives a general insight
into shared living to help closer match expectations to
reality.
Unite is the founder of and major donor to the Unite Foundation,
a charitable trust established to support talented students facing
challenging financial circumstances through the provision of free
accommodation scholarships. The Foundation has so far provided
scholarships for 434 young people working in close collaboration
with 27 partner universities.
Unite is invested in and operates two specialist funds and joint
ventures with institutional investment partners: the GBP3 billion
Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF), and the GBP1 billion
London Student Accommodation Vehicle (LSAV).
Founded in 1991 in Bristol, Unite Group is an award-winning Real
Estate Investment Trust (REIT), listed on the London Stock Exchange
and a member of the FTSE 250 Index.
For more information, please visit Unite's corporate website
www.unite-group.co.uk, the student site www.unite-students.com or
the Unite Foundation www.unitefoundation.co.uk
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
MSCFLFIRVDIELII
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 16, 2020 03:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
Unite (LSE:UTG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Unite (LSE:UTG)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024