41061 Unite AR22 HI-RES WEB-READY - Flipbook - Page 34
32
THE UNITE GROUP PLC | Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022
FINANCIAL REVIEW
IMPROVED OCCUPANCY
FOR 2022/23
“We delivered a strong financial performance
in 2022 with earnings and dividends surpassing
their pre-pandemic level driven by a return to
full occupancy, improving rental growth and
investment into our estate.”
Joe Lister
Chief Financial Officer
OPERATIONS REVIEW
We achieved occupancy of 99% across our total portfolio
for the 2022/23 academic year (2021/22: 94%, 2020/21:
88%), reflecting strong student demand and significantly
less disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic than the
previous two academic years.
Undergraduate student intake for 2022/23 was flat at
563,000 (2021/22: 562,000), although significantly up
from the last pre-pandemic year in 2019/20 (541,000), as
universities adjusted their offer making after two years
of teacher assessed grades. We saw the highest ever
admissions for UK students and non-EU students, up 1% and
15% from the previous year. However, this was offset by the
continued reduction in EU student numbers following Brexit
and the loss of home fee status for students from the EU.
The recovery to pre-pandemic occupancy levels for the
2022/23 academic year was helped by the return to
examinations for UK school leavers, which led to a more
normal distribution of grades and therefore students
between universities. The normalisation of travel conditions
during 2022 has allowed international students to return to
studying in the UK despite some localised travel restrictions
in China.
Occupancy by type and domicile by academic year
Direct let
Nominations
UK
China
EU Non-EU
2019/20
57%
16%
15%
2020/21
53%
16%
11%
2021/22
51%
21%
13%
2022/23
52%
24%
14%
2%
4%
Total
6%
98%
4%
4%
88%
3%
6%
94%
7%
99%
Strong rental growth
Annual rents increased by 3.5% on a like-for-like basis for
2022/23 (2021/22: 2.3%), reflecting average increases of
4.0% through nomination agreements and 3.1% average
increases in direct-let rents. On a like-for-like basis, for beds
sold in both 2021/22 and 2022/23, rental growth was 4.5%.
Occupancy was broadly consistent across our wholly-owned
portfolio, USAF and LSAV.