Unite Group PLC Annual Financial Report (1752I)

TIDMUTG

RNS Number : 1752I

Unite Group PLC

19 March 2018

THE UNITE GROUP PLC (the "Company")

19 March 2018

Annual Report, Notice of 2018 AGM and Scrip Dividend Scheme Circular

Annual Report and Notice of AGM

The Unite Group plc announces that a copy of our 2017 Annual Report, which also contains the Notice of 2018 Annual General Meeting, is available on the Company's website: http://www.unite-group.co.uk/investors. Printed copies have been posted to those shareholders who have requested it.

Unite Scrip Dividend Scheme

In the Company's 31 December 2017 year end results, Unite declared a final dividend of 15.4p per share, payable on 18 May 2018 to shareholders on the Company's register at the close of business on 13 April 2018. The Company also announced it would be offering shareholders the opportunity to participate in the Unite Scrip Dividend Scheme (the "Scrip Scheme"), subject to approval at the Company's 2018 Annual General Meeting. Further details of the Scrip Scheme, the terms and conditions and the process for election to the Scrip Scheme are in a Scrip Scheme Circular being posted to shareholders today, together with the Annual Report and Notice of Annual General Meeting. The Scrip Scheme Circular and related documentation is available on the Company's website: http://www.unite-group.co.uk/investors.

Copies of all these documents have been submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will shortly be available for inspection at: http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM.

-ENDS-

For further information, please contact:

 
  Unite Students 
   Candice Macdonald, Head of                  Tel: [phone] 
   Communications 
 
   Powerscourt (PR adviser to                  Tel: [phone] 
   Unite) 
   Justin Griffiths or Mazar 
   Masud 
 

Notes to editors:

About Unite Students

Unite Students is the UK's largest manager and developer of purpose-built student accommodation serving the country's world-leading higher education sector. We currently provide homes for almost 50,000 students in more than 140 properties across 24 leading university towns and cities in England and Scotland. Unite also has a strong development pipeline, which will deliver a further 8,000 beds in the next three years.

Our 1,400 people are driven by a common purpose: to provide the students who live with us a 'Home for Success' and to be the most trusted brand in the sector. We do this through great service, great people and great properties, all designed on the basis of an unrivalled insight into students' needs and preferences.

Unite's accommodation is high quality, safe and secure, and located close to university campuses, transport links and local amenities. Students live predominantly in en-suite study bedrooms with rents covering all bills, insurance, 24-hour security, fortnightly cleaning services and high-speed Wi-Fi. MyUnite, our mobile app, provides practical support such as instant messaging and maintenance requests.

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.

Alongside delivering great service, 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 though partnerships with mid and high tariff universities which are experiencing record levels of student demand. We currently partner with 60 higher education institutions, guaranteeing that approximately 60% of our rooms are let under multi-year, 'nomination agreements' providing high visibility of forward occupancy and rental growth.

Unite is invested in and operates two specialist funds and joint ventures with institutional investment partners: the GBP2 billion Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF), and the GBP1 billion London Student Accommodation Vehicle (LSAV).

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 annual scholarships. The Foundation has so far provided scholarships for 250 young people working in close collaboration with 28 universities.

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.

LEI: 213800BBUUWVDH9YI827

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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March 19, 2018 10:36 ET (14:36 GMT)