Unite Group Plc (UTG) Q1 2026 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Good morning everybody and thank you all for joining the call. Since we last spoke, we've taken action across a number of areas and I'm encouraged to see signs of early progress. And today we will be updating on current trading, taking you through progress with the disposals and flagging the appointment of an advisor to accelerate the repositioning wealth portfolio and updating on our Q1 valuations for USAF and LSAAF. So starting with trading, Overall, we are trading in line with the guidance we shared in February. We're currently 74% reserved for the 26-27 academic year against 76% at the same time last year. And these reservations are supportive of our rental growth guidance of the 2-3% range. Direct let sales are responding to our proactivity. We're currently tracking about one to two points above the direct let market at this stage. and the market is competitive, but we are benefiting from our mid-market price points and our proactivity on pricing. We're keeping our powder dry on incentives at the moment, but we could see some more promotional activity later in the year and we are having success at selling beds that have been handed back to us by universities. Nominations are currently at 54%. We've continued to see lower tier universities be more cautious in their approach and managing their financial exposure. It is fairly normal that we see ups and downs in nominations agreements at this stage, and we could see NOMs move further by plus or minus one to two points by the end of the cycle. On the positive side, high tariff universities are wanting more beds and locking into longer term agreements and top up for 26, 27. But as we call that in February, it won't be until July when we firm up numbers with universities with some further demand likely in August once ...