| Master Investor Magazine
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Shares in FTSE 250 residential property firm Grainger (LON:GRI) rose 1.22% to 248p (as of 14:40 BST) after it said that rental income was up by 3.4% over the year to date. The company’s recent development in Bristol has been fully let in the 3.5 months since launch, ahead of the underwriting forecasts. Income from property sales remained robust and continued to fund investments.
CEO Helen Gordon commented: “I am pleased to report a period of continued strong performance for Grainger. Our disciplined investment decisions and clear focus on operational excellence is delivering sustainable growth for shareholders, customers and communities alike. Since the start of our strategy in 2016 we have committed investment of £1,555m into new private rental housing.
“During the year, we have competed 912 new private rental homes, with a further 1,150 to come in FY20. Our most recently launched schemes in Bristol, Manchester and Hampshire are leasing well and ahead of expectations. In particular, Hawkins & George in Bristol, which comprises 194 apartments, is now fully let in 3.5 months since launch, well ahead of expectations and our initial underwriting.
“I am also pleased to announce we have agreed to acquire our second scheme in Bristol, Millwrights Place, which is adjacent to our Hawkins & George scheme at Finzels Reach. The scheme will be acquired from Cubex Land, who also developed Hawkins & George. The 231 private rental homes at Millwrights Place will perfectly complement Hawkins & George, creating a cluster of assets in Bristol city centre, enabling us to efficiently manage both sites together.
“Today we also announce the roll out of our new market-leading PRS technology platform, CONNECT. This platform will support Grainger’s major growth plans as we set out to double the size of our rental property portfolio. CONNECT enables our customers to undertake nearly every interaction regarding renting and living in their homes from their mobile or computer, linking seamlessly with Grainger’s back-end management systems. CONNECT will enable Grainger to minimise costs and driving gross-to-net operational efficiency and further differentiate our already market leading position”.