United Living Group Financial Results

United Living Group, the provider of infrastructure, affordable housing, property services, and telecoms, is pleased to announce its financial results for the year ended 31 March 2023.

Financial summary

• Revenues increased 22% to £534 million (2022: £437 million)
• Adjusted EBITDA increased by 68% to £40 million (2022: £24 million)
• Cash profit before tax increased by 237% to £29 million (2022: £9 million)*
• Strong net cash flow generated from operating activities of £27 million (2022: £13 million)
• Gross cash increased by £15 million to £56 million
• New contracts worth £1.7 billion during the period across all four business pillars
• Secured order book of £3 billion as of 31 March 2023

*This measure is PBT adjusted for the following two non-cash items:

1) Interest accrued on shareholder loans.  As the Group is owned by Private Equity the capital structure includes several shareholder loans in lieu of equity. These shareholder loans rank as quasi equity and carry an annual interest charge, that only becomes due and payable upon sale of the Group and which is then settled by the incoming PE investor.

2) Amortisation of Goodwill created through the acquisitive nature of the Group.

Operational highlights

Key contracts secured during the period included:

• Clarion Housing – £460 million
• L&Q – £300 million
• VMO2 – £250 million
• Northumbrian Water Group – £144 million
• The Guiness Partnership – £47 million
• Platform Housing Group – £33 million
• Wakefield District Housing – £31.6 million

Post-period end

• Significant investment by global asset management firm Apollo Impact (“Apollo”) in August 2023

Neil Armstrong, Chairman and CEO of United Living Group commented:

“We are pleased to announce another strong financial year for United Living. The Group has made significant progress across our four complementary business pillars providing essential services to the owners and operators of UK utility infrastructure and property assets.

“Being able to achieve such sustainable growth reflects our dedication to creating lasting value despite some challenging macroeconomic conditions. I would like to thank the team for their hard work and unwavering commitment throughout FY2023 which has contributed to the success of the Group.

“We are delighted to partner with Apollo since its investment in United Living in August 2023. With Apollo’s resources and strong experience investing in infrastructure and social housing markets, we believe that our new alliance can allow the Group to expand and develop its infrastructure, property services, new homes, and telecoms businesses, and allow us to create more connected sustainable communities across the UK.

“The four pillars of United Living’s business are experiencing tailwinds in the well-established infrastructure, telecoms and property sectors. There are many growth opportunities available in the infrastructure sector due to network upgrades, AMP8 in the water sector and new infrastructure required for hydrogen and CCUS and the related decarbonisation of heat. New property regulatory requirements are leading local authorities to require more property services to improve the conditions of existing housing stock and demand for new, affordable homes is increasing to align with the Government’s targets. Additionally, with the rollout of 5G across the UK, we have also seen a high demand for our telecoms services.

“United Living has an exciting future and is well positioned to continue its strong organic growth and drive further value through suitable strategic acquisitions. We look forward to providing further updates on our progress in the coming months.”