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
Pretax profit for the year was
Net rental income rose to
For the period, Empiric Student Property declared a dividend of
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
Empiric (ESP)