Forward Sale in Bournemouth

RNS Number : 0461W

Watkin Jones plc

06 February 2017

 

For immediate release

6 February 2017

Watkin Jones plc

('Watkin Jones' or the 'Group')

Forward Sale in Bournemouth

Watkin Jones plc (AIM:WJG), a leading UK developer and constructor of multi occupancy property assets, with a focus on the student accommodation sector, is pleased to announce that further to the positive update on developments announced on 22 December 2016 and its 2016 full year results announcement on 18 January 2017, the Group has completed the forward sale of the student accommodation element of its Christchurch Road development in Bournemouth.

The sale has been made to an institutional investor for an undisclosed fee, with the development consisting of 454 beds of student accommodation (437 ensuite clusters and 17 self-contained studios).  The development is due for completion in the summer of 2017 ahead of the academic year.  Following this transaction, all of the Group's student accommodation developments due for delivery before the end of the current financial year have been forward sold, while 1,840 of the 3,485 beds due for delivery in 2018 have been pre-sold and a further 1,530 have planning permission.

Mark Watkin Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Watkin Jones plc, said:  "We are delighted to announce that we have successfully completed the sale of the student accommodation development at Christchurch Road in Bournemouth.  Having now forward sold all of our projects which are due for delivery in the current financial year, the Group has demonstrated its strong relationships with institutional investors and its ability to provide good visibility on near term returns for its shareholders."

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For further information:

Watkin Jones plc
Mark Watkin Jones, Chief Executive Officer	Tel: [phone]
Phil Byrom, Chief Financial Officer	www.watkinjonesplc.com
Zeus Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker)
Corporate Finance
Dan Bate / Jamie Peel		Tel: [phone]
Corporate Broking		Tel: [phone]
Dominic King / Benjamin Robertson		www.zeuscapital.co.uk
Peel Hunt LLP (Joint Broker)		Tel: [phone]
Mike Bell / Matthew Brooke-Hitching		www.peelhunt.com

Media enquiries:

Buchanan
Henry Harrison-Topham / Richard Oldworth / Jamie Hooper	Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]	www.buchanan.uk.com

Notes to Editors

Watkin Jones is a leading UK developer and constructor of multi occupancy property assets, with a focus on the student accommodation sector.  The Group has strong relationships with institutional investors, and a good reputation for successful, on-time-delivery of high quality developments.  Since 1999, Watkin Jones has delivered over 31,800 student beds across 98 sites, making it a key player and leader in the UK purpose built student accommodation market.  In addition, Watkin Jones has been responsible for over 50 residential developments, ranging from starter homes to executive housing and apartments.

The Group's competitive advantage lies in its experienced management team and business model, which enables it to offer an end to end solution for investors, delivered entirely in-house with minimal reliance on third parties, across the entire life cycle of an asset.  Key components of the business model are:

·    Site identification - extensive experience of site identification and acquisition facilitates high quality sites being acquired;

·     Planning consents - in depth knowledge and experience of the planning consent process specific to this type of asset facilitates high success rates on planning applications;

·     In-house construction and delivery - in-house construction expertise, management and delivery limits reliance on third parties and, together with favourable contractual relationships with key suppliers, enhances control of cost;

·     Funding structure - forward sale model reduces risk for Watkin Jones and provides security and visibility of the asset pipeline for investors.  The Group has strong relationships with blue chip investors, including a number that are repeat investors in Watkin Jones developments; and

·     Asset management - dedicated property management division provides a continued service solution to investors post development completion and completes the 'end to end' business model.

 

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