Grainger plc
Full year financial results
for the twelve months ended 30 September 2021
Robust performance; a period of momentum and growth
- Adjusted Earnings up +2%
- Profit before tax up +53%
- Like-for-like rental growth of +1.0%
- Occupancy of 94% in PRS portfolio by September, now 95%
- Passing net rental income 15% ahead of reported FY21 reported NRI
- PRS rent collection of 98%
- 6 new operational PRS assets added during FY21, totalling over 1,300 new homes, a record year of delivery and already 91.5% let
- 4 acquisitions for £299m during FY21
- PRS now represents 69% of Grainger's total portfolio
Helen Gordon, Chief Executive of Grainger, the UK's largest listed residential landlord, said:
“We have delivered a robust performance for the year, and with our strong strategic momentum we are entering our next phase of dynamic growth.
“Our success has delivered 53% growth in profit before tax, 2% growth in adjusted earnings and passing net rental income1 15% ahead of FY21 reported NRI, with our resilient regulated tenancy portfolio providing strong rental income growth and strong sales performance, which more than offset the slight reduction in occupancy in our PRS portfolio caused by the pandemic earlier in the year. We are proposing a final dividend of 3.32p per share2.
“Our well-established growth strategy has continued unabated with our delivery of more than 1,300 new operational PRS homes and four new acquisitions totalling £299m of investment.
“The UK private rented sector, particularly build-to-rent, remains a highly attractive sector to invest in. It proved resilient during the pandemic. Our strategy of investing in high quality, mid-market private rental homes in target cities across the UK, identified by our in-house research and aligned to sound responsible business and ESG values, remains the right strategy for Grainger.
“Looking to Grainger's future, we plan to increase our growth momentum and build upon our £3.1bn operational portfolio of 9,727 rental homes. Our £1.9bn PRS pipeline will more than double our net rental income. This growth will enable us to further enhance shareholder returns. The scalable platform we have developed delivers a compounding effect on earnings growth as we increase our top line rental income, which we expect to increase 2.5 times from our pipeline.
“Grainger is at an exciting point in its continued growth momentum, and with its compounding earnings growth potential, scalable platform and PRS pipeline, remains well placed to deliver continued growth in shareholder returns.”
Highlights
- +2% growth in Adjusted Earnings3 to £83.5m
- Profit before tax up +53% to £152.1m
- Passing net rent was up +15% to £81m on FY21 reported net rental income (NRI). This follows the successful lease up of our newly launched schemes and a swift reduction in voids in our PRS portfolio, demonstrating the improvement on our reported NRI for the year which was £70.6m, which reflects our investment sales programme and the slightly higher than typical void rate in our PRS portfolio, a result of Covid-19 lockdowns
- Occupancy further increased to 95% today, up from 89% at the end of August and 94% at the end of September
- EPRA Net Tangible Assets (NTA) rose 4% to 297p per share, supported by the successful lease up of our five new PRS schemes in the year
- Proposed final dividend of 3.32p per share, with a total dividend for the year of 5.15p per share, and a total dividend distribution of £36.9m in line with last year (FY20: £36.8m)
- Total operational portfolio of 9,727 rental homes valued at £3.1bn, more than two thirds of which is PRS, and a £1.9bn PRS pipeline of a further 8,373 rental homes