First Read Unite Group plc 2026 EPS guidance reiterated

Research evidence excerpt

First Read Unite Group plc 2026 EPS guidance reiterated

r direct-let demand, particularly from returners and international 12/28E 44.07 43.43

students, and management said current reservations support full-year earnings

Zachary Gaugeguidance.

Analyst

zachary.gauge@ubs.com

Balance sheet, disposals and capital allocation +44-20-7901 5534

Attention is now likely to shift towards disposals and balance sheet management. Unite

Charles Boissier, CFA

completed £130m (share) of disposals in H1 and has a further c.£500m of assets actively Analyst

marketed, while reiterating £300-400m of disposal guidance for 2026. The assets charles.boissier@ubs.com

targeted for sale are predominantly lower-growth and non-core properties, with implied +44-20-7568 4415

disposal yields of 6.0-7.5% balanced out by development sites and selective lower

Nadir Rahman

yielding assets to get to the 5.5%-6.0% NOI yield on disposals in 2026. Having already Analyst

deployed £165m into buybacks in H1, the emphasis in H2 is likely to move towards nadir.rahman@ubs.com

disposal execution. Net debt increased to £2.6bn, with LTV rising to 36% from 27% at +44-20-7567 1750

year-end following the Empiric acquisition, buybacks, development capex and valuation

declines. While management remains comfortable within its stated 30-40% LTV range,

successful execution of disposals will become increasingly important to fund any

potential further share buy backs and future University JV schemes whilst maintain

balance sheet flexibility.

Valuation: UTG trades a 36% discount to HY26E EPRA NTA

Our model is economic profit based and points to a 36% discount to EPRA NTA t+1.

Highlights (£m) 12/23 12/24 12/25 12/26E 12/27E 12/28E 12/29E 12/30E

Net rental income 257 276 294 335 335 347 373 404