Trading Update.


    14 May 2025 23:16:52
  • Source: Sharecast
RNS Number : 7089I
Assura PLC
14 May 2025
 

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION.

 

14 May 2025

 

Assura plc

Trading Update

Assura plc ("Assura"), the UK's leading diversified healthcare REIT, today announces its unaudited Trading Update for the financial year ended 31 March 2025.  

Active recycling to enhance portfolio

•     Active recycling in the year saw Assura deliver

Acquisition of 14 private hospitals for £500 million

Completion of 5 development projects with a total spend of £61.5 million

Establishment of £250 million joint venture with USS - seeded with 13 properties during the year for £159 million and one further property (£13 million) exchanged and subsequently completed during Q1

Disposal of a further 17 properties for £28 million in line with book values

•     Portfolio now stands at 603 properties with an annualised rent roll of £177.9 million (March 2024: 614. £150.6 million) and a WAULT of 12.7 years (March 2024: 10.8 years)

•     Investment property value £3.1 billion[1] (March 2024: £2.7 billion); valuation uplift of approximately £58 million in year

•     Net Initial Yield 5.21% (March 2024: 5.17%)

 

Operational performance

•     Following active portfolio management, portfolio rent reviews consist of: c.53% OMR, c.47% indexed, fixed or other

•     Rent reviews generated a weighted average annual uplift of 3.2%

Like-for-like increase of 6.1% on £79.9 million of rent roll reviewed (weighted average annual uplift of 3.2%)

Annual equivalent uplift of 2.2% on OMR reviews, 4.1% on RPI and 3.5% on other

 

Strong balance sheet enhanced by valuation gains and portfolio recycling

•     As at 31 March 2025, Assura expects to report consolidated net assets of approximately £1,640 million1 (March 2024: £1,473.1 million)

•     Equivalent to 50.4 pence per share on a diluted EPRA NTA basis (March 2024: 49.3 pence per share)

•     Net debt of £1,487 million on a fully unsecured basis (cash £58.1 million) and undrawn facilities of £174 million, representing LTV of 46.9%

 

- Ends -

For more information, please contact:

Assura plc
Jayne Cottam, CFO
David Purcell, Investor Relations Director

Tel: 0161 515 2043
Email: Investor@assura.co.uk

FGS Global

Gordon Simpson
Grace Whelan

Tel: 0207 251 3801
Email: Assura@fgsglobal.com

 

Notes to Editors

Assura plc is the UK's leading diversified healthcare REIT. Assura enables better health outcomes through its portfolio of more than 600 healthcare buildings, from which over six million patients are served.

A UK REIT based in Altrincham, Assura is a constituent of the FTSE 250 and the EPRA* indices and has a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. As at 31 March 2025, Assura's portfolio was valued at £3.1 billion and has a strong track record of growing financial returns and dividends for shareholders.

At Assura we BUILD for health and as the first FTSE 250 certified B Corp we are committed to keeping ESG at the heart of our strategy, creating Healthy Environments (E) and Healthy Communities (S) and maintaining a Healthy Business (G).

Further information is available at www.assuraplc.com

*EPRA is a registered trademark of the European Public Real Estate Association

Forward looking statements

This Announcement and other information published by Assura contain statements about Assura and any member of the Assura Group that are or may be deemed to be forward looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this Announcement may be forward looking statements. Such forward looking statements are prospective in nature and are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations and projections of the management of Assura about future events and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect expected results and are based on certain key assumptions.

Although Assura believes that the expectations reflected in such forward looking statements are reasonable, neither Assura nor the Assura Group, nor any of their respective associates or directors, officers or advisers, provides any representation, assurance or guarantee that the occurrence of the events expressed or implied in any forward looking statements in this Announcement will actually occur. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place any reliance on such forward looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. All subsequent oral or written forward looking statements attributable to any member of the Assura Group, or any of their respective associates, directors, officers, employees or advisers, are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statement above.

Assura and the Assura Group expressly disclaim any obligation to update any forward looking or other statements contained herein, except as required by applicable law or by the rules of any competent regulatory authority, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

No profit forecasts, profit estimates or quantified financial benefits statements

No statement in this Announcement is intended as a profit forecast, profit estimate or quantified financial benefits statement for any period and no statement in this Announcement should be interpreted to mean that earnings or earnings per share for Assura for the current or future financial years would necessarily match or exceed the historical published earnings or earnings per Assura share.

Rule 26.1 information

In accordance with Rule 26.1 of the Code, a copy of this Announcement will be made available free of charge, subject to certain restrictions relating to persons resident in restricted jurisdictions, on Assura's website at www.assuraplc.com/investor-relations/shareholder-information/offer-from-kkr-and-stonepeak no later than 12 noon (London time) on the business day following the date of this Announcement. For the avoidance of doubt, the contents of the website referred to in this Announcement are not incorporated into, and do not form part of, this Announcement.

Bases and sources

 

In this Announcement, unless otherwise stated or the context otherwise requires, the following bases and sources have been used:

 

•     financial information relating to March 2024 has been extracted from the audited consolidated financial statements of Assura for the financial year ended 31 March 2024, prepared in accordance with IFRS;

 

•     references to the valuation of Assura's property portfolio as at 31 March 2025 has been derived from the valuation reports prepared by Cushman & Wakefield and JLL as set out in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 of the scheme document published by Assura on the date of this Announcement;

 

•     references to EPRA NTA per Assura share as at 31 March 2025 are to unaudited EPRA NTA per Assura share as at 31 March 2025, calculated by reference to the corresponding valuation reports prepared by Cushman & Wakefield and JLL as noted above and unaudited consolidated financial statements of Assura for the financial year ended 31 March 2025, prepared in accordance with IFRS:

£m unless stated otherwise

Unaudited EPRA NTA - 31 March 2025

Valuation per Cushman & Wakefield

1,786.6

Valuation per JLL

1,282.4

Assura Directors' estimate[2]

41.8

Accounting adjustments

6.4

Total property portfolio

3,117.2

Borrowings

(1,539.6)

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

58.1

Deferred tax

0.7

Fair value of derivative

(0.1)

Other current and non-current assets

102.6

Other current and non-current liabilities

(98.5)

IFRS net assets

1,640.4

Deferred tax

(0.7)

Fair value of derivative

0.1

EPRA adjusted net asset value

1,639.8

EPRA NTA per Assura Share

50.4 pence

 

•     certain figures in this Announcement have been subject to rounding adjustments.



[1] For the purposes of Rules 29.1(a) and 29.1(d) of the Takeover Code, updated valuations of Assura's property portfolio have been produced by Cushman & Wakefield and JLL as at 31 March 2025 as set out in Appendix 1 (Cushman & Wakefield Valuation Report) and Appendix 2 (JLL Valuation Report) of the scheme document published by Assura on the date of this announcement and available on Assura's website at www.assuraplc.com/investor-relations/shareholder-information/offer-from-kkr-and-stonepeak

[2] Relates to the Assura Directors' estimate of the value of its assets located in the Republic of Ireland, which corresponds to the unaudited book value of such properties as at 31 March 2025. For the purposes of Rule 29.1(a) and 29.1(d) of the Takeover Code, a valuation of these remaining properties will be prepared and made available on Assura's website at www.assuraplc.com/investor-relations/shareholder-information/offer-from-kkr-and-stonepeak, subject to certain restrictions relating to persons in Restricted Jurisdictions, prior to the Court Meeting and the General Meeting in relation the recommended cash acquisition of Assura by KKR and Stonepeak.

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