Students heading back to university in the coming weeks might find they have a new landlord after Unite, the UK’s largest manager of branded student accommodation, sold 11 of its properties for £178.6 million.

Encouragingly, at a time when most property values are plummeting, the company managed to get the sale away at 2.8 per cent above the assets’ December 2007 valuations.

After the sales Unite will no longer have an operational presence in Southampton, Cardiff, Preston, Stoke or Huddersfield, in line with the company’s strategy of focusing on high-growth markets, such as London.

Mark Allan, the chief executive, said that the sales showed evidence of the resilience of the student accommodation sector. Shares rose 14½p to 226p.

Falling property values have been a trouble for housebuilders, and in turn the companies that supply them, such as Speedy Hire. However, the tool hire group advanced 12¼p to 469¾p yesterday after analysts at Panmure Gordon said they believed that the company continued to trade well, despite concerns that its fortunes may be affected by the impact of housebuilding on wider areas of its customer base. They added that the integration of Hewden continues as expected, with cost reductions and overall progress in line with expectations.

Dawnay, Day Carpathian, the retail property investment company operating in Central and Eastern Europe, fell 7p to 40p after it said that rent arrears of two months had arisen in respect of Interfruct, a cash-and-carry business that rents 23 of the company’s properties in Hungary.

Xpertise Group, the IT services and trading company, rose 65½p to 142½p, after privately held QA-IQ Investments launched a 150p per share offer for the company.

Explore Markets

• United States

• Europe

• Japan

• China

• Russia

• The Gulf

• India

• Africa

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive