10 May 2018

 

THE UNITE GROUP PLC (the "Company")

 

RESULTS OF AGM

 

The Company announces that at its Annual General Meeting held today all resolutions were duly passed on a show of hands.  Details of the proxy votes are in the table below.

Despite engagement and support from major shareholders, the Board noted significant votes against Resolution 15 (Issue shares pre-emptively), Resolution 16 (Dis-apply Pre-emption Rights) and Resolution 17 (Dis-apply Pre-emption rights - acquisition/specified capital investment).  These Resolutions are consistent with the latest Pre-emption Group Principles and with the resolutions approved in previous years.  The Company will consult with shareholders voting against these resolutions to understand their views in relation to the specific authorities sought. 

 

		FOR		AGAINST
	Resolution	Votes*	% Votes Cast	Votes	% Votes Cast ***	Votes Withheld **
1	ANNUAL ACCOUNTS	223,282,160	99.94	130,000	0.06	305,239
2	REMUNERATION REPORT	216,758,054	97.34	5,916,825	2.66	1,042,518
3	FINAL DIVIDEND	223,516,418	100.00	0	0.00	200,981
4	APPROVE SCRIP	223,515,003	100.00	19	0.00	202,377
5	RE-ELECT P M WHITE	201,921,567	94.69	11,332,627	5.31	10,463,203
6	RE-ELECT R S SMITH	221,045,128	98.81	2,672,251	1.19	0
7	RE-ELECT J J LISTER	219,623,784	98.17	4,093,615	1.83	0
8	RE-ELECT R C SIMPSON	221,041,323	98.80	2,676,076	1.20	0
9	RE-ELECT SIR T WILSON	222,676,493	99.53	1,040,906	0.47	0
10	RE-ELECT A JONES	222,676,797	99.53	1,040,602	0.47	0
11	RE-ELECT E MCMEIKAN	222,676,387	99.53	1,041,012	0.47	0
12	ELECT R PATERSON	222,783,668	99.58	931,731	0.42	2,000
13	REAPPOINT AUDITORS	218,003,646	97.45	5,711,613	2.55	2,120
14	AUDITORS REMUNERATION	213,544,676	95.46	10,155,901	4.54	16,820
15	AUTH TO ALLOT SHARES	148,185,971	66.24	75,531,426	33.76	0
16	PRE-EMPTION RIGHTS	169,355,638	75.97	53,557,925	24.03	803,834
17	PRE-EMP RGTS-ACQ/CAP INV	168,365,058	75.53	54,549,013	24.47	803,327
18	GENERAL MEETING NOTICE	187,786,079	83.94	35,931,320	16.06	0

 

 

 * Includes those votes giving the Chairman discretion.

** A "Vote Withheld" is not a vote in law and is not counted in the calculation of "For" and "Against" a resolution.

***0.0001 rounded to 0.00 for consistency

 

Maximum number of shares represented by proxy: 223,717,399 shares.

 

Number of ordinary shares in issue as at the date of the AGM (no shares held in treasury): 263,112,415 shares.

 

Resolutions 1 to 15 were passed as ordinary resolutions and Resolutions 16 to 18 were passed as special resolutions.

 

Pursuant to UK Listing Rule 9.6.2R, copies of all resolutions, other than those concerning ordinary business, adopted at the AGM will be shortly submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will be available for inspection at http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM.

 

The full text of the resolutions passed at the AGM can be found in the Notice of AGM which is available alongside the AGM results on the Company's website at http://www.unite-group.co.uk/

 

-ENDS-

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Unite Students   Candice Macdonald, Head of Communications     Powerscourt (PR adviser to Unite)   Justin Griffiths or Mazar Masud

Tel: +44 7525 592 521     Tel: +44 207 250 1446

 

Notes to editors:

About Unite Students

Unite Students is the UK's largest manager and developer of purpose-built student accommodation serving the country's world-leading higher education sector. We currently provide homes for almost 50,000 students in more than 140 properties across 24 leading university towns and cities in England and Scotland. Unite also has a strong development pipeline, which will deliver a further 8,000 beds in the next three years. 

Our 1,400 people are driven by a common purpose: to provide the students who live with us a 'Home for Success' and to be the most trusted brand in the sector.  We do this through great service, great people and great properties, all designed on the basis of an unrivalled insight into students' needs and preferences.

Unite's accommodation is high quality, safe and secure, and located close to university campuses, transport links and local amenities. Students live predominantly in en-suite study bedrooms with rents covering all bills, insurance, 24-hour security, fortnightly cleaning services and high-speed Wi-Fi. MyUnite, our mobile app, provides practical support such as instant messaging and maintenance requests.

Our commitment to customer service is powered by an innovative, in-house operating platform. It provides a wide range of benefits to our students, such as an optimised online booking process, as well as providing us with a unique ability to drive value from our portfolio through scale efficiencies and revenue management.

Alongside delivering great service, our other strategic priority is delivering growing and sustainable earnings, underpinned by a strong capital structure.  A key part of this strategy is growing the number of beds let though partnerships with mid and high tariff universities which are experiencing record levels of student demand.  We currently partner with 60 higher education institutions, guaranteeing that approximately 60% of our rooms are let under multi-year, 'nomination agreements' providing high visibility of forward occupancy and rental growth.

Unite is invested in and operates two specialist funds and joint ventures with institutional investment partners: the £2 billion Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF), and the £1 billion London Student Accommodation Vehicle (LSAV).

Unite is the founder of and major donor to the Unite Foundation, a charitable trust established to support talented students facing challenging financial circumstances through the provision of free accommodation annual scholarships. The Foundation has so far provided scholarships for 250 young people working in close collaboration with 28 universities.

Founded in 1991 in Bristol, Unite Group is an award-winning Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), listed on the London Stock Exchange and a member of the FTSE 250 Index.

For more information, please visit Unite's corporate website www.unite-group.co.uk, the student site www.unite-students.com or the Unite Foundation www.unitefoundation.co.uk.