Newcastle-headquartered Grainger plc, the UK’s largest listed residential landlord, said on Thursday its profit before tax rose 53% to £152.1 million in the year to September 30.

Grainger reported a total operational portfolio of 9,727 rental homes valued at £3.1 billion, more than two thirds of which is private rented sector (PRS) and a £1.9 billion PRS pipeline of a further 8,373 rental homes.

Grainger is proposing a final dividend of 3.32p per share, with a total dividend for the year of 5.15p per share, and a total dividend distribution of £36.9 million in line with last year (FY20: £36.8m).

Grainger CEO Helen Gordon said: “We have delivered a robust performance for the year, and with our strong strategic momentum we are entering our next phase of dynamic growth.

“Our success has delivered 53% growth in profit before tax, 2% growth in adjusted earnings and passing net rental income 15% ahead of FY21 reported NRI, with our resilient regulated tenancy portfolio providing strong rental income growth and strong sales performance, which more than offset the slight reduction in occupancy in our PRS portfolio caused by the pandemic earlier in the year.  

“We are proposing a final dividend of 3.32p per share.

“Our well-established growth strategy has continued unabated with our delivery of more than 1,300 new operational PRS homes and four new acquisitions totalling £299m of investment.  

“The UK private rented sector, particularly build-to-rent, remains a highly attractive sector to invest in. It proved resilient during the pandemic.

“Our strategy of investing in high quality, mid-market private rental homes in target cities across the UK, identified by our in-house research and aligned to sound responsible business and ESG values, remains the right strategy for Grainger.

“Looking to Grainger’s future, we plan to increase our growth momentum and build upon our £3.1bn operational portfolio of 9,727 rental homes. 

“Our £1.9bn PRS pipeline will more than double our net rental income.

“This growth will enable us to further enhance shareholder returns.

“The scalable platform we have developed delivers a compounding effect on earnings growth as we increase our top line rental income, which we expect to increase 2.5 times from our pipeline.

“Grainger is at an exciting point in its continued growth momentum, and with its compounding earnings growth potential, scalable platform and PRS pipeline, remains well placed to deliver continued growth in shareholder returns.”