24th Sep 2014 07:33
LONDON (Alliance News) - Health and community-care property partner Ashley House PLC Wednesday, said it hopes to grow its extra care business, after it swung to a loss in the full-year following delays in schemes reaching financial close.
The company posted a pretax loss of GBP4.7 million for the year ended April 30, compared with a GBP400,000 profit a year earlier, as revenue fell to GBP8.3 million from GBP15.8 million.
High Wycombe-based Ashley House has been struggling for some time with restructuring and impairment costs affecting profit over the past 18 months, but it was a delay in a number schemes reaching financial close which really took its toll in the last financial year. The company now hopes that the delayed schemes will all reach financial close in the coming months.
Nonetheless, the company said it did deliver some schemes in health and extra care housing, although "clearly not at the pace it would like".
Extra care housing is social or private housing that has been modified to suit people with long-term conditions or disabilities that make living in their own home difficult, but who don't want to move into a residential care home.
Schemes completed during the year included two large GP schemes, one at Chapel House, Newcastle upon Tyne and the other at Silsden, West Yorkshire. A new type of development was delivered for Open Door in Grimsby, a social enterprise providing a nurse led GP service, health trainers and fitness activities, Ashley House said.
Open Door's services are aimed at vulnerable or marginalised local people, who may find themselves unable to access mainstream health services due to homelessness or other factors.
Despite its "disappointing results", the company said its pipeline continues to growth and is dominated by extra care work. Extra care work has increased significantly to GBP102.1 million from GBP37.3 million a year earlier, pushing the total pipeline of work to around GBP155.7 million.
Extra care is increasingly become an area of focus for the company. In a separate statement Wednesday the company said it has signed an agreement with an unnamed UK investment fund manager for funds to expand its extra care pipeline.
Ashley House said the deal gives access to an initial GBP100 million of debt to be deployed over the next two years for its extra care schemes.
Standard documentation and the financial model are currently being finalised for this new fund. The new fund will take projects once they are built and the company is currently exploring funding solutions, including equity and debt, for the construction period and is in early stage discussions with potential providers.
Commenting on the company's financial performance, Chairman Christopher Lyons said:" Despite a continuing difficult time in the health market exacerbated by the abolition of the NHS Primary Care Trusts, and with indications that health will remain slow for the next couple of years, it is considered that the strategy to focus on the significant growth in the extra care housing market will drive the recovery of the business."
Ashley House shares were quoted down 8.1% at 8.62 pence Wednesday morning.
By Anthony Tshibangu; [email protected]; @AnthonyAllNews
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