UK's student housing firm Unite maintains outlook after H1 earnings dip; shares fall

July 28 (Reuters) - Unite Group, Britain's largest student housing provider, on Tuesday posted lower interim earnings, partly due to deal-related costs, but the company maintained its annual outlook as it reshapes its portfolio and reduces prices to boost demand.

Here are some details:

• Shares fell as much as 4.3% but recovered some losses by 0859 GMT to trade down 1.6%.

• The group is selling lower-yielding assets to ​focus on services for UK universities with stricter admission criteria, which tend to be more resilient during economic uncertainty, and as tighter visa rules weigh on enrolments.

• Last year, Unite Group bought Empiric Student Property, creating a $14 billion student housing giant.

• Unite reiterated its full-year adjusted earnings outlook of 41.5-43.0 pence per share after adjusted earnings fell to 27.1 pence per share in the June half from 29.5 pence a year earlier.

• "We are moving at pace to deliver our strategy to increase alignment to the UK's strongest universities, where student demand is robust and growing," CEO Joe Lister said in a statement, adding that international demand overall was improving.

• Barclays analysts, however, struck a cautious note, pointing to an implied year-on-year EPS decline in the second half of 2026.

• Speaking to Reuters, Lister also highlighted new Prime Minister Andy Burnham's work in Manchester around developing universities and skills in the city and the opportunities that could come the industry's way as the PM moves ahead with his plans.

• Lister said the government's reforms announced on Monday, which would allow early learning of technical skills, were a "really positive advancement".

• "We're pretty excited actually, and it doesn't hurt that his chief of staff is a former vice-chancellor of a university as well. So he knows the sector, he understands the sector," Lister said.

(Reporting by Amna Mariyam and Simone Lobo in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)