Empiric Share News (ESP)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Empiric Student Property PLC said on Wednesday that its net asset value fell slightly despite a rise in the value of its portfolio during 2017.

The student accommodation provider changed its accounting date to fall in line with the calendar year, and for the end of 2017 reported a net asset value per share of 104.37 pence, down slightly from 105.90p a year before, due to share issuance. Total NAV rose to GBP629.3 million from GBP530.9 million, on a rise in its portfolio valuation to GBP890.1 million from GBP721.3 million.

Pretax profit for the year was GBP20.8 million, down from GBP31.0 million the year before, due to a fall in the fair value of investment property to GBP15.8 million from GBP24.8 million.

Net rental income rose to GBP29.0 million from GBP19.8 million, as revenue - which excludes property costs - rose to GBP51.2 million from GBP31.4 million.

For the period, Empiric Student Property declared a dividend of 5.55 pence per share, up from 3.05p a year prior but short of its target of 6.1p per share. The group is targeting a dividend of 5.0 pence per share for 2018.

In the academic year of 2017-18, Empiric contracted 1,460 new beds, taking the total to 9,158 beds through 94 assets in 29 UK cities and towns. For the year, the group reported an occupancy rate of 92%, affected by property management issues and local economic conditions in certain cities.

"We have a very strong property portfolio which operationally underperformed in 2017. We have identified the causes of that underperformance and are implementing the changes necessary to allow the business to deliver the improvements we all want to see. We expect these actions will deliver growth in operating margin and dividend cover during 2018 and beyond. As a result, we continue to target a total return of 10% per annum over the medium term," said Acting Chief Executive Officer Tim Attlee.

Shares in Empiric Student Property were up 1.8% at 86.54 pence on Wednesday.