Prospectus

The investment objective of the Company is to provide Shareholders with regular, sustainable and growing long-term dividends (which it will seek to grow at least in line with the RPI inflation index) together with the potential for capital appreciation over the medium to long term.



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ESP(ESP) Fundamentals

Clarification of Company announcement on 1 December: Notification of Transaction of a Director



Further to the Company announcement on 1 December 2017, Notification of Transaction of a Director, the Board of Empiric Student Property plc (ticker: ESP), the owner and operator of premium student accommodation across the UK, confirms that Paul Hadaway, Chief Executive of the Company, has reorganised his personal shareholding by transferring 388,750 ordinary shares in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") from his personal account into his pension fund.



Mr Hadaway sold 388,750 ordinary shares in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 87.75 pence per Ordinary Share and Mr Hadaway's pension fund then subsequently purchased 388,750 Ordinary Shares at price of 87.7575 pence per share.



Following the transaction, there were no net changes to Mr Hadaway's shareholding in the Company and he continues to hold 1,532,775 Ordinary Shares (equivalent to 0.25 per cent. of the Company's issued ordinary share capital).



This notification is made in accordance with Article 19 of the Market Abuse Regulations and further details required under Article 19(6) are set out in the Appendix below.

This seems to have slipped beyond any reasonable logic. Presumably partly due to the effect of Brexit, but last set of figures weren't bad. Has now fallen well below the float price....presumably divi is safe? Am tempted to get back in at these levels.
EDIT: Just seen divi has been cut. (1.52p to 1.25p)

Really?

Did you not read about their specific problems ????

Must have missed that JS. Will have a better look.
EDIT : Dec 2016 seems to have been the time of unrest concerning Directors remuneration. Revolving credit facility renegotiated Sept 2017 + increase in equity. A 30% drop in the sp might be a bit overdone?

Link courtesy of Jonwig.

Empiric hoists £600m 'for sale' sign after ousting CEO

What do you reckon skinny?
Surely selling the company as a whole has got to be a better option than selling off individual assets, as far as shareholders are concerned?

I'm not sure Harry - I'm obviously missing something.

StockMarketWire.com
Empiric Student Property plc, the owner and operator of student accommodation across the UK, announced Monday that it acquired the freehold of a 240 bed student accommodation property in Southampton, for £10.6 million.

Post-acquisition, Empiric will own 459 beds in Southampton amounting to approximately 9% of Southampton's private PBSA.

The property comprises affordable student accommodation configured in three and four bed apartments with 65 commercially let car parking spaces.

Tim Attlee, Acting Chief Executive of Empiric Student Property plc, said: 'As envisaged in the Company's 2025 Plan, adding affordable accommodation to Empiric's existing studio stock in the City widens the rental range offered to students and allows cross-selling between accommodation formats.'

'The Property will also contribute to a reduction of the Company's per-bed operating costs in the City. The investment is immediately income producing and in line with Empiric's investment criteria and returns targets.'

Property Valuation & Trading Update

Empiric Student Property plc (ticker: ESP), the owner and operator of student accommodation across the UK, announces that the Group's property portfolio was independently valued by CBRE Ltd as at 31 December 2017 and on a like-for-like basis is slightly ahead compared to 30 June 2017. The portfolio valuation was £890.1 million, representing an increase of 23.4% for the full year and 8.8% for H2 2017 and was based on current levels of occupancy and on an industry standard asset-by-asset basis.

The increase in valuation has been driven largely by acquisitions, with yield compression, development progress and rental growth also contributing to uplifts in the majority of Empiric's towns and cities, which are continuing to see strong demand. However, this increase in value has been partially offset by certain assets where Empiric has faced operational challenges as previously reported.

The Group continues to focus fully on driving revenue and reducing costs and can report recent progress in line with the guidance provided in the November 2017 Trading Update. Bookings for the 2018/19 academic year are at 40% which is significantly ahead of last year and administration costs for H2 2017 have been reduced by 21% from £7.6 million for H1 2017 to circa £6.0 million.

The results for the year ended 31 December 2017 will be published on Wednesday 21 March 2018 and will include a full update on the Company's performance and progress made on the initiatives outlined in the Business Review.

Numis Hold 85.35 91.00 91.00 Reiterates

Dividend Declaration

The Board of Empiric Student Property plc (ticker: ESP), the owner and operator of student accommodation across the UK, has declared a dividend of 1.25 pence per Ordinary Share in respect of the quarter ended 31 December 2017, payable on 23 March 2018 to all Ordinary Shareholders on the register on 9 March 2018. The ex-dividend date will be 8 March 2018.

0.84 pence of this dividend will be paid as a Property Income Distribution ("PID") in respect of the Company's tax exempt property rental business and 0.41 pence will be paid as an Ordinary UK dividend ("non-PID").

The Board is targeting a dividend of 5 pence per share for the year to 31 December 2018.1

Note:

(1) The target dividend is a target only and not a forecast. There can be no assurance that the target will be met and it should not be taken as an indication of the Company's expected or actual future results.

NOTICE OF FULL YEAR RESULTS

The Board of Empiric Student Property plc (ticker: ESP), the owner and operator of student accommodation across the UK, will announce its full year results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2017 on Wednesday, 21 March 2018.

RESULT OF AGM AND TRADING UPDATE

The Board of Empiric Student Property plc (ticker: ESP) (the "Board"), the owner and operator of student accommodation across the UK, announces that all resolutions proposed at the Company's Annual General Meeting held on 24 April 2018 were duly passed as set out below.

The Board is also pleased to provide the following trading update:

Stuart Beevor, Acting Chairman, commented:

"We are very encouraged with the Company's on-going progress in delivering financial and operational improvements across the business. We look forward to being able to report further progress in the near term, ahead of the announcement of the Company's interim results in August 2018."

· Bookings growing strongly: Bookings for the 2018/19 academic year are currently 57% compared to 45% at the same time last year, and up from 48% as announced by the Company on 21 March 2018. 7.50% of beds in the Company's portfolio are let on nominations agreements or leases with universities.

o Targeting occupancy of 97% for the 2018/19 academic year, supported by an increased focus on the end to end sales process.

· Operating margin increasing: Significant progress made on improving the operating margin in FY 2018 and on track to bring cost-effective facilities management in-house in stages completing in Q1 2019, with the first significant cost savings from Q4 2018 as third party costs begin to fall away.

· Administration expenses reducing: On track to achieve the target of £10 million in FY 2018 for administration expenses, a reduction of 26% on FY 2017.

· Improving dividend cover: Significant progress made on improving dividend cover which is expected to be approximately two thirds covered by adjusted earnings in FY 2018 and fully covered in FY 2019.

o Targeting a dividend of 5.0 pence per share for the year ending 31 December 2018.

· Non-executive Chairman: The Board has commenced a process to identify a new non-executive Chairman and looks forward to making a further announcement in due course.

In accordance with Listing Rule 9.6.2(R), a copy of the resolutions passed at the Annual General Meeting will be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will be available for inspection at www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM.

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Dividend Declaration

The Board of Empiric Student Property plc (ticker: ESP), the owner and operator of premium student accommodation across the UK, has declared a dividend of 1.25 pence per Ordinary Share in respect of the quarter ended 31 March 2018, payable on 15 June 2018 to all Ordinary Shareholders on the register on 1 June 2018. The ex-dividend date will be 31 May 2018.

0.20 pence of this dividend will be paid as a Property Income Distribution ("PID") in respect of the Company's tax exempt property rental business and 1.05 pence will be paid as an Ordinary UK dividend ("non-PID").

The Board is targeting a dividend of 5 pence per share for the year to 31 December 2018.1

Note:

(1) The target dividend is a target only and not a forecast. There can be no assurance that the target will be met and it should not be taken as an indication of the Company's expected or actual future results.

Notice of Trading Update and Half Year Results

Empiric Student Property plc (ticker: ESP), the owner and operator of premium student accommodation across the UK, will provide a brief trading update on Thursday, 5 July 2018, ahead of the Company's half year results for the six months ended 30 June 2018, which will be announced on Tuesday, 21 August 2018.

TRADING UPDATE AND DIRECTOR AND MANAGEMENT CHANGES

The Board of Empiric Student Property plc (ticker: ESP) (the "Board"), the owner and operator of student accommodation across the UK, is pleased to provide the following update on trading ahead of the Company's half year results for the six months ended 30 June 2018, which will be announced on Tuesday, 21 August 2018.

The Group continues to make good progress on delivering financial and operational improvements across the business and remains on track to meet its previously stated targets of:

· Full occupancy for the 2018/19 academic year*.

· Increasing the operating margin from 57% in FY 2017 to 70% over the next two years.

· Reducing administration expenses to £10m pa in 2018, a reduction of 26% on FY 2017.

· Improving dividend cover to approximately two thirds covered by adjusted earnings in FY 2018 and fully covered in FY 2019.

Bookings for the 2018/19 academic year are continuing to progress well and are currently at 76% compared to 63% at the same time last year, and up from 57% as announced by the Company on 25 April 2018.

The programme of bringing all facilities management in-house in stages by 1 April 2019 is on track, with 33% of the Group's properties expected to be transferred in-house by 1 September 2018. The management of all utilities has already been successfully transferred in-house from 1 July 2018. The first significant cost savings from this transfer in-house of facilties management are expected in Q4 2018 as third party costs begin to fall away.

The Board announces that Lynne Fennah has been appointed to the dual roles of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer with effect from 1st July 2018. Since December 2017, Lynne has led and assumed responsibility for all day to day operating activities of the Company and, in recognition of the continued positive financial and operational progress of the Company, the Board has formalised Lynne's responsibilities.

Tim Attlee remains Acting Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of the Company.

To help support and continue the Group's financial and operational progress as well as the significant work to implement successfully the programme of bringing in-house all facilities management and support services, a new Group Financial Controller and Head of Facilities Management were appointed in December 2017 and on 2 July 2018 respectively.

The Board is making good progress in its search for a new non-executive Chairman and expects to make a further announcement in the near term.

* In line with industry standards, student occupancy levels of 97% and above are considered as fully let.

Slowly recovering.

Appointment of Chairman

Interim Results

· Property portfolio valued at £945.2 million at 30 June 2018 (31 December 2017: £890.1 million), up 6.2%, including a 3.0% like-for-like valuation increase

· Net asset value ("NAV") per share growth of 1.1% to 105.54 pence (31 December 2017 104.37 pence)

· Adjusted earnings per share ("EPS") of 1.50 pence (H1 2017: 1.05 pence), resulting in dividend cover for the period of 60.0%

· Dividends declared of 2.5 pence per share, in line with 5.0 pence target for 2018

· Administration expenses reduced to £4.9 million (H1 2017: £7.6 million), on track to meet full-year target of £10 million

· Gross margin of 62.3% (H1 2017: 60.4%), reflecting good progress with reducing property costs

· Gross annualised rent on 87 operating properties of £66.6 million for the 2017/18 academic year (31 December 2017: £65.3 million for 85 operating properties)

· Net debt of £314.8 million at 30 June 2018 (31 December 2017: £298.1 million), resulting in a loan-to-value ratio ("LTV") of 34.2% (31 December 2017: 32.9%), in line with our long-term target of 35.0% and maximum of 40.0%. Aggregate cost of debt of 3.1% with a weighted average term to maturity of 5.8 years



Operational Performance

· Bookings of 87% at 14 August 20185, putting us on track for full occupancy of 97% for the 2018/19 academic year (Note: Bookings of 87% at 14 August 2018 is contained within the Interim Report. Bookings increased to 89% at 20 August 2018 as set out in the analyst presentation on 21 August).

· Like-for-like income growth of above 6.0% for the 2018/19 academic year, resulting from an average annualised student rental growth of 2.0% and increase in the weighted average lease term from 48.5 weeks to 50.5 weeks at the date of this report

· Facilities management for one third of our assets will be in-house for the start of the 2018/19 academic year, with all of our facilities management in-house from 1 April 2019

· 100% of our direct let properties will be let and maintained under the Hello Student® brand for the start of the 2018/19 academic year

· Wide range of other operational improvements, including rationalising staff numbers in Hello Student®, refocusing marketing spend and bringing administration of utilities in-house, helping to ensure our business is fit-for-purpose for the long term

· 95 assets with 9,398 beds contracted at 30 June 2018 (31 December 2017: 94 assets with 9,158 beds), in 29 prime university cities and towns

· 87 operating or revenue-generating assets at the period end (31 December 2017: 85 assets), with an average valuation yield of 5.7% and average yield on cost of 6.5%

· Acquired one standing asset with 240 beds, for £10.6 million

· All developments due to be completed for the 2018/19 academic year are progressing satisfactorily



Board and Management Changes

· Lynne Fennah appointed to dual roles of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer from 1 July 2018, formalising her responsibility for our operations

· Mark Pain appointed as Non-Executive Chairman with effect from 1 September 2018



Post Period End Highlights

· On 21 August 2018, the Board declared a dividend of 1.25 pence per ordinary share in respect of the quarter ended 30 June 2018, which is to be paid on 14 September 2018 to shareholders on the register on 31 August 2018

· On 14 August 2018 the Group drew down the first £20 million of its £70 million three-year revolving credit facility.


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