Empiric Student Property plc (ticker: ESP), the owner and operator of premium, studio-led, student accommodation across the UK, is pleased to provide a business and trading update as at 23 May 2023.

Highlights

  • Revenue occupancy for academic year 2023/24 now at 86% and continuing to track significantly ahead of prior year
  • Like for like growth in average weekly rents for academic year 2023/24 improving and now expected to exceed 7%
  • As previously announced, the sale of Emily Davis House, Southampton which was exchanged for sale in December 2022 for £13.9m, is now unconditional and will complete on 31 May 2023
  • Contracts exchanged for the disposal of a further two non-core properties generating £18.1m, which is above book value

Duncan Garrood, Chief Executive Officer of Empiric Student Property plc, said:

“The booking cycle for academic year 2023/24 continues to track significantly ahead of 2022/23, which was itself a record year for the Company. We remain confident in achieving occupancy rates above 97 per cent and pleasingly, delivering rental growth in excess of 7 per cent like for like, ahead of earlier guidance.

The business is in great shape, our net promoter scores continue to improve and we’ve made good progress on our non-core disposal programme. We are optimistic that 2023 will be another strong year for the Company.”