North East listed landlord Grainger Plc has hailed an outstanding half year performance in which income and profits were boosted by new openings.
The Newcastle based business is the Ƶ’s largest listed residential landlord and a leader in the BTR (build to rent) sector, with a portfolio of more than 11,000 homes set in properties across the Ƶ in key towns and cities, and plans to create another 4,700-plus private rental homes.
Group revenues rose 20% to £136.4m in the six months to March 31 2025, while operating profit jumped 14% to £69.3m, buoyed by new openings including The Kimmeridge in Oxford and The Silver Yard in Birmingham.
The previous year’s pre-tax loss was also converted to profit of £74m. Net rental income grew 15% to £61.3m and Grainger also noted strong like-for-like rental growth of 4.4%, as well as strong demand for its homes, with high occupancy at 96%.
It also increased its dividend per share by 12% to 2.85p.
The firm – which now has 343 operational homes in the city – said the outlook for the future remains excellent and is accelerating its earnings. It has a committed pipeline across the Ƶ worth £413m, which will create a further 1,180 homes, with only £166m remaining to invest, which is expected to grow full year earnings by 25% to FY26 and 50% by FY29.
Helen Gordon, chief executive, highlighted huge growth in the BTR (build to rent) sector, which she said is the most resilient market in the real estate sector, expected to grow to £6bn this year, with rental demand expected to grow by 20% between 2021 and 2030.
The company said it also has circa £1.1bn of low-yielding non-core assets to fund its continued growth through either its remaining pipeline of 4,565 homes or "opportunistic opportunities".
Ms Gordon said: “Grainger has delivered another period of outstanding performance and we are continuing to deliver growth year-on-year. Earnings are up 23% whilst net rental income grew 15% compared to this period last year, driven by our new openings, growth in underlying rents and our ability to leverage our central costs and operational platform.
“Our properties are in high demand and our portfolio remains fully let with occupancy at 96% with a strong customer demographic base and stable and healthy levels of affordability. The expansion of our BTR portfolio is accelerating our earnings growth.
“Residential, specifically private rented residential, has proven its resilience through the cycle compared to other real estate asset classes with excellent rental growth protecting valuations and we are seeing continued valuation growth. Investment activity in the build-to-rent sector is very buoyant with reports of more than £1bn of investment activity in Q1 this year.
“Our market is characterised by structural demand drivers, supply-constrained markets, strong customer demographics and a supportive regulatory and political backdrop which is aimed at stimulating investment activity.
“Through the delivery of the first part of our pipeline, our committed pipeline, we expect to deliver strong like-for-like rental growth and 50% earnings growth from FY24 to FY29 after fully absorbing the impact of higher interest costs. We have significant firepower from our non-core portfolio to fund growth beyond that for our remaining pipeline or additional stabilised acquisitions.
“Our business is designed to create shareholder value. We operate in a sector with strong structural tailwinds. Our asset class and specifically our portfolio and platform, deliver inflation-backed rental growth. Our sector leading operating platform is scalable and our EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisatio) margins are growing substantially as we deliver our large pipeline.
“This shareholder value creation model creates excellent, risk-adjusted returns, with a commitment to delivering a continued progressive dividend. We are increasing our interim dividend 12%, reflecting our outstanding performance.”
