Maddoxx
18 Oct 2016
More good news and yet.... More good news; UTG get planning approval for a £70m development in the center of Liverpool adjacent to an existing property currently 99% let. So a perfect fit. Also, they are going to fund the development from internal resources. As they have just sold two properties for £88.4m realising a nice £34.7m profit(65% on development cost) they have the cash ready to recycle. So all looking positive based on the news - so why has the sp fallen to as low as 590p? Well the other players in the market, ESP, DIGS, haven't fallen so it appears isolated to UTG. And, as the news is all positive, I suspect a large FI is re-weighting its holding, possibly taking some gains to invest elsewhere. Once that clears I wouldn't be surprised another rapid climb up to 660p. Regards Maddox
petethenovice
04 Oct 2016
Re: Unite has taken off like a rocket its because i just sold them..
Maddoxx
04 Oct 2016
Unite has taken off like a rocket Unite has taken off like a rocket this morning up 14.5p 2.26% as I post. Cannot find any news item or RNS to explain this. Anybody have any clues? Regards Maddox
Maddoxx
26 Jul 2016
Re: Strong set of H1 results & +ve outlo... Hi Eadwig,Yes I share your concerns but I'd make a couple of points that are reassuring:> EU Students comprise only 9% of Unite's customers;> The immigration focus is on bogus language schools and faux colleges not the UK's top Universities that is Unite's territory;> Jo Johnson, Minister of State for Universities and Science was re-appointed by Theresa May - and the Higher Education Sector see him as supportive;> Evidence: 'EU students who are eligible under current rules to receive loans and grants from the Student Loans Company will continue to do so for courses they are currently enrolled on or about to start this coming year. The Master’s Loans launched today are also still available to eligible EU students. EU students will continue to receive funding for the duration of their courses.' [link] Evidence: Government removed the cap on UK/EU student numbers from 2015/16 with a 92,000 increase in total student population in 2015. I totally agree with your point; it would make sense to remove all foreign university students from the NET migration numbers (and targets). Afterall, they would need to apply to stay-on after a given period post their course and that would be the logical point to include them as Net Immigrants - not if they are here temporarily to study.Regards, Maddox
Eadwig
26 Jul 2016
Re: Strong set of H1 results & +ve outlook Unfortunately, the net immigration figure includes foreign students, for no sensible reason I can think of. Theresa May looks set to stamp down hard on many of the 55,000 new applications per year that come from foreign students, as a way to get the headline figure down. Unless someone with some sense can point out to her that these people bring a lot of money into the economy via fees and accommodation rents and general VAT on spending plus air passenger taxes etc etc then she's in danger of ruining one of Britain's few remaining, truly world class, growth industries ... not to mention a big part of my pension plan.If she allows zero new foreign students (for arguments sake) except those already on a course. the time those courses are finished, say 2020 (the time of the next general election), the net immigration figures will be reduced by around 200,000 per year, some say 300,000 with all foreign students including from the EU (currently 7%) and medical - the latter who pay up to £35,000 per year in fees.So net immigration would be just 30,000 per year, or perhaps 130,000 max. In theory. Before any new points system is introduced to cut other immigration. That would appease a lot of voters that might look favourably on compromises elsewhere.I shudder to think what a politician might do to be able to hold up such figures entering the next general election. Let's hope common sense and the good of the country prevails..... I'm not optimistic, frankly.
Maddoxx
26 Jul 2016
Strong set of H1 results & +ve outlook EPRA earnings up 22% to £36.1m, EPRA eps up 15% to 16.3p, EPRA NAV up 7% to 620p. Interim div up 9% to 6p/share. Loan to Value 35% - very conservative leverage. IFRS profit including revaluation gains down at £106.7m (2015 £208.3m) due to big uplift last year. Conversion to REIT in 2017. [link] Ironically, UTG was the share I was most confident was Brexit-proof but took the largest hit!! Whatever, nothing of concern in these figures and outlook statements very positive:'Despite the uncertainty caused by the result of the EU referendum, the fundamentals of our business and the student accommodation sector remain strong.The demandupply outlook for student accommodation remains favourable and our earnings growth trajectory is underpinned by our efficiencies of scale and a high quality development pipeline, focused on cluster flat accommodation with a lower price point, where the rental growth outlook is strongest.'Regards, Maddox
Maddoxx
08 Jul 2016
RNS: Positive outlook and valuations Positive update and valuation uplifts on their student property funds - albeit independently valued prior to 23rd June - driven by rental growth and a positive outlook statement 'we expect to see continued high demand for purpose-built student accommodation'Regards, Maddox
Maddoxx
06 Jul 2016
There's property and then there's property Hi guys,Couple of points for your consideration:aa) Student accommodation is a very different species to commercial property (office and retail primarily);bb) The cost of developing student property will be dropping along with the fall in commercial property development activity; andcc) More land will be available at more reasonable prices for student accommodation development.The financial viability of student property development in Central London was becoming marginal in competition with commercial property development. IMHO the linking of the post-Brexit travails of commercial property with student accommodation is miss-placed. Every cloud as they say.....Regards, Maddox
Maddoxx
02 May 2016
Investors Chronicle BUY tip Unite has been tipped in the Investors Chronicle BUY at 600p. Key points: currently trading at a discount to f/cast NAV of 657p 31/12/2016 and 709p 31/12/2017 (Liberum figs. Prospective yield 4% from conversion to REIT. A strong and growing student market - BREXIT proof.Regards, Maddox[link]
Maddoxx
27 Apr 2016
Substantial site acquisition Unite have secured another site for development in Liverpool with planning permission for 713 student beds - but Unite think that this can be upped to over 1000 beds. This is scheduled to open for the 19/20 academic year - so a nice bit of forward visibility of NAV growth. Their target return on cost is >8% for regional developments. Another point is that the £70m cost will be funded from internal resources - that I'm interpreting to mean that they will be staying within their conservative <40% loan-to-value financing. This despite the anticipated increase in dividend yield as they convert to a REIT. NAV growth and increasing yield - what's not to like. Regards, Maddox
Maddoxx
26 Jan 2016
Site acquisition - +ve indications RNS today indicates that UTG's development pipeline is progressing as planned. Another well located site acquired right in the center of Coventry for 2017/18. The scheme is expected to hit UTG's development targets: that is yield on cost for regional developments of >8%. This is significant as it means that UTG is able to find and acquire attractive sites at the right price. Also, another nice nugget in the RNS is that demand for places at Coventry Uni were up 14% (~3000 more students) this year - so there is unlikely to be a problem filling the rooms.
vic1981
13 Jan 2016
Re: Unite continues to excel Thanks Maddoxx, I was wrong about the broker updates. Unite has been quite stable though which is great in this volatile market but I was expecting c10% increase in asset valuation to result in a 10% increase in share price which hasn't materialised yet. I will continue to hold.Vic
Maddoxx
12 Jan 2016
Re: Unite continues to excel Hi Vic,Yep I'm following UTG pretty closely. However, one of the many attractions is that I don't really have to - UTG doesn't keep me awake at night! And I certainly come to my own view rather than be influenced by other analysts' opinions.Nevertheless, looking at Digital Look they have 6 Brokers' views:Strong Buy 2Buy 2Neutral 1Sell 0Strong Sell 1[link] assuming that their summary is correct the Brokers are currently very positive. Liberum Capital did reiterate a Hold rating on the 1st Dec but with a price target of 675p - back then the price was 672p but now 641p. Apart from these guys I'm not sure to whom you are taking note of?Regards, Maddox
vic1981
12 Jan 2016
Re: Unite continues to excel Maddoxx,I understand you are following this closely. Any idea why is it the growth in value doesn't seem have any impact on the share price and that brokers recommendations are hold rather than buy for this share?Vic
Maddoxx
11 Jan 2016
Unite continues to excel As well as fully owned property Unite run a couple of student property funds of which they own a percentage as well earn management fees, specifically:USAF - Unite own 22%LSAV - Unite own 50% These funds are independently valued - as announced this morning: 'At 31 December 2015, USAF's property portfolio was independently valued at £2,074 million representing a like-for-like increase of 2.3% during the quarter and 13.9% over the full year. The portfolio comprises 26,813 beds in 75 properties across 24 University towns and cities in the UK.LSAV's investment portfolio was independently valued at £738 million, up 2.5% on a like-for-like basis in the quarter and 17.4% over the full year. LSAV's investment portfolio comprises 4,636 beds across 12 properties in London and three properties in Edinburgh.'As you can see the growth in value continues to be excellent and as a result they are getting a performance bonus fee.....'"The strong performance in 2015 has resulted in Unite Students receiving a net performance fee in the region of £20 million."'....and so will we in due course, as Unite will pay-out 65% of earnings as dividends.Regards, Maddox
