5 October 2023
Grainger plc
(“Grainger”, the “Group”, or the “Company”)
POST-CLOSE TRADING UPDATE
Another year of record delivery:
Acceleration in rental growth and sales
· Five new schemes completed
· Like-for-like PRS rental growth 8.0%
· Record occupancy 98.6% (PRS)
· £194m of sales, including,
· £70m of vacant regulated sales
Grainger plc, the UK’s largest listed provider of private rental homes with an operational portfolio of c.10,000 rental homes and a further c.6,000 build-to-rent homes in the pipeline, today provides a post-close trading update for the twelve months to the end of September 2023. The Company will announce its full year financial results on 22 November 2023.
Helen Gordon, Chief Executive of Grainger, said:
“Our strong performance in delivering rental growth has continued through the remainder of our financial year. The team continue to deliver exceptional operational performance across all areas of the business and particularly in the completion and lease up of our new schemes. Sales remain robust, valuations continue to demonstrate resilience, and our balance sheet remains strong. We continue to successfully execute on our growth plans which will see our post tax EPRA earnings double in the next three years.
“This year is another year of record delivery of new homes for Grainger. We are due to complete over 1,600 new build-to-rent homes in 2023, driving a further step change in EPRA earnings and bringing our total operational portfolio to over 10,000 homes.
“We are delivering these new homes into one of the strongest occupational markets we have seen. Current leasing at our newly-opened schemes is exceeding underwriting and we continue to drive a step up in rental income across our national portfolio. However, we remain mindful of protecting our customers’ rental affordability and, therefore, continue to ensure that rental growth across our portfolio moves broadly in line with wage inflation.
“Our strong operational performance is coupled with a strong balance sheet, positioning us well in the current market. We have fixed the cost of our debt in the mid 3%’s for the next five years. Our asset recycling programme continues at an elevated level in line with our previously reported plans.”
Our market-leading operational platform is a competitive differentiator and continues to deliver significant value:
| · Like-for-like rental growth continues to build: | ||
| o Total like-for-like rental growth: | 7.7% | (HY23: 6.8%) |
| o PRS like-for-like rental growth: | 8.0% | (HY23: 6.9%) |
| § New Lets: | 9.2% | (HY23: 8.2%) |
| § Renewals: | 7.2% | (HY23: 6.1%) |
| o Regulated tenancy like-for-like rental growth: | 5.9% | (HY23: 5.8%) |
| · Occupancy in our stabilised PRS portfolio remains at record-high levels | ||
| o Spot occupancy at the end of September: | 98.6% | (HY23: 98.5%) |
· Vacant sales from our Regulated Tenancy Portfolio are performing well, with prices achieved within c.2% of September 2022 valuations.