Delivering continued growth
Jonathan Murphy, CEO, said:
“Assura has continued to make strong progress over the past six months. We expanded our high-quality portfolio with 27 new additions and grew Assura’s market-leading development pipeline to a record £480 million, building upon our acquisition of Apollo in February. Our financial platform remains robust, with a conservative LTV of 39% and our lowest ever cost of debt of 2.30% down 17 bps from last year. This is Assura’s eighth year of dividend growth ‒ a testament to our successful strategy, which continues to drive resilient cash flows, strong growth and a positive outlook for the company.
“The pandemic has shone a light like never before on Assura’s role as the NHS’s partner of choice, supported by our financial strength, sector expertise and mutually beneficial relationships with GPs. With capacity constraints and health inequalities having been exacerbated significantly in the last 18 months, the provision of the high-quality community healthcare that Assura delivers has become more important than ever. With our leadership position we are also well positioned to adapt to emerging trends within the sector such as the growing digitalisation at our sites and remote diagnosis. Most recently, more than 87,000 people benefited from our social impact strategy, SixbySix, from improvements to and through our healthcare buildings in the half-year period and as COP26 draws to a close we continue to play a key role in supporting the NHS’s commitment to become the world’s first net zero healthcare system.
“Today, we are also proposing an equity raise of approximately £190 million, to fund additional investment in our development pipeline, acquisitions and asset enhancements. This will help us to further build on our strong track record of delivering growth, supporting the NHS and increasing shareholder value.”
Strong growth and resilient cash flows bolster our position as NHS partner of choice
- Passing rent roll up 5% to £127.5 million (March 2021: £121.7 million), WAULT 11.7 years (March 2021: 11.9 years)
- Profit before tax up 58% to £69.4 million (2020: £43.8 million); EPS 2.6p (2020: 1.7p)
- EPRA earnings up 7% to £40.9 million (2020: £35.8 million); EPRA EPS of 1.5p (2020: 1.4p1)
- Portfolio increased 6% to £2,595 million as at 30 September 2021 (March 2021: £2,453 million)
- Portfolio Net Initial Yield (“NIY”) at 4.56% (March 2021: 4.56%), valuation gain of £28.1 million in the six months
- Current quarterly dividend of 0.74p (March 2021: 0.71p)
Continuing to deliver critical new capacity for community healthcare
- Growing portfolio of 625 high-quality properties (March 2021: 609), serving 6.3 million people across the UK
- 27 property additions for total cost of £117 million (yield on cost 4.9%, WAULT 16.3 years, £82 million acquisitions, £35 million development completions)
- Market-leading development capability strengthened by acquisition of Apollo in February 2021
- Total development pipeline of £480 million of which on site £72 million
- 11 selective disposals completed for proceeds of £15 million generating a modest profit over book value
- Five asset enhancement capital projects on site (£3.7 million spend)
- Five lease re-gears (£0.2 million existing rent roll) and 144 rent reviews completed (2.1% uplift2)
- Total contracted rental income increased to £1.61 billion (March 2021: £1.57 billion)
- Pipelines: immediate developments3 £145 million; extended developments4 £263 million; acquisitions £102 million in legal hands; asset enhancement capital projects £15 million
- 56 lease re-gears covering £6.7 million of existing rent roll in the current pipeline
Sustainability and social impact at the heart of all decision-making
- Further progress on our SixbySix social impact strategy ambition
- EPC improvement programme on track to roll out in the second half of the year
- Assura Community Fund distributed £100,000 as official Community Health Partner of the Rugby League World Cup
- Evaluating bids in second £400,000 grants programme for health-improving projects around our buildings
- All development completions rated BREEAM Very Good or Excellent and met EPC targets of B and above
- Two development projects identified as first net zero pilots; aiming to be on site within 12 months
- Sustainability Bond issued in accordance with Sustainable Finance Framework
Strong and diverse financial position
- LTV of 39% at 30 September 2021 and weighted average interest rate of 2.30%
- Issued 12-year £300 million Sustainability Bond with coupon of 1.625% in June 2021
- As at 30 September 2021 net debt of £1,007 million on a fully unsecured basis
- Undrawn facilities of £125 million and cash of £241.6 million
- A- (stable outlook) rating from Fitch Ratings Ltd reaffirmed in January 2021
Summary result
| Financial performance | September 2021 | September 2020 | Change |
| Net rental income | £61.1m | £54.4m | 12.3% |
| Profit before tax | £69.4m | £43.8m | 58.4% |
| IFRS earnings per share | 2.6p | 1.7p | 52.9% |
| EPRA earnings per share | 1.5p | 1.3p | 15.4% |
| Adjusted EPRA earnings per share | 1.5p | 1.4p | 7.1% |
| Dividend per share | 1.45p | 1.4p | 3.6% |
| Property valuation and performance | September 2021 | March 2021 | Change |
| Investment property | £2,595m | £2,453m | 5.8% |
| Diluted EPRA NTA per share | 58.4p | 57.2p | 2.1% |
| Rent roll | £127.5m | £121.7m | 4.8% |
| Financing | September 2021 | March 2021 | Change |
| Loan to Value ("LTV") ratio | 39% | 37% | 2ppt |
| Undrawn facilities and cash | £367m | £272m | 37.9% |
| Weighted average cost of debt | 2.30% | 2.47% | (17)bps |
1 Comparator is Adjusted EPRA earnings per share, adjusted to remove the £2.5 million contribution to the Assura Community Fund in the 6 months to September 2020
2 Weighted average annual uplift on all settled reviews
3 Immediate development pipeline: schemes expected to be onsite within 12 months
4 Extended development pipeline: Assura appointed exclusive development partner, awaiting NHS approval
Alternative Performance Measures (“APMs”)
The highlights page and summary results table above include a number of financial measures to describe the financial performance of the Group, some of which are considered APMs as they are not defined under IFRS. Further details are provided in the CFO Review, notes to the accounts and Glossary.
For further information, please contact:
Assura plc:
Jayne Cottam, CFO
David Purcell, Head of Investor Relations
Tel: 01925 420 680
Email: [email protected]
Finsbury:
Gordon Simpson
James Thompson
Tel: 0207 251 3801
Email: [email protected]
A presentation for investors and analysts, followed by live Q&A, will be streamed at the link below on 11 November 2021 at 9.00am GMT.
Webcast link: https://webcasting.brrmedia.co.uk/broadcast/6165b49c4e29f55a9419342b
In addition, the company will host a presentation with Q&A for retail investors on the Investor Meet Company platform on Friday 12th November 2021 at 3.00pm GMT. Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and add to meet Assura plc via: https://www.investormeetcompany.com/assura-plc/register-investor