Unite Group Plc (UTG.L), a provider of student accommodation in the UK, on Monday said that it remains confident of acheiving earnings and dividend benefit from the acquistion of Empiric Student Property Plc, helped by expected annual run-rate synergies of at least 13.7 million pounds. The company expects the acquistion to become effective by the second quarter of 2026.
On the LSE, the stock is down 1.9 percent on Monday's trading at 556.60 pence.
In the latest trading update by Empiric Student Property plc related to the booking cycle for the 2025/26 academic year, Empiric said that it has achieved occupancy of 89 percent compared to 95 percent in October last year. Like-for-like rental growth stood at 4.5 percent, influenced by an increase in demand from UK domestic students, which has somewhat offset the lower number of bookings from Chinese students.
Unite Group said that Empiric Student Property's occupancy for the 2025/26 academic year has come in below earlier expectations of lower occupancy and rental growth in comparison to the previous academic year. Rental growth has come in line with expectations, the company added.
For the full year, Unite Group continues to expect adjusted earnings per share in the 47.5 pence-48.25 pence range.
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