18th May 2016 07:04
LONDON (Alliance News) - Assura PLC on Wednesday said its pretax profit slipped slightly in its financial year, due to early repayment costs associated with its debt reduction strategy, as it noted the importance of further investment in primary care in light of the current strain on the NHS.
The FTSE 250 healthcare real estate investment trust said its pretax profit for the year ended March 31 fell to GBP28.8 million from GBP36.6 million, after it was hit by GBP34.1 million in early repayment costs related to its repayment of GBP182.0 million of loans to Aviva Commercial Finance.
This was in line with Assura's debt reduction plan, announced last November, and its net debt was reduced to GBP327.9 million from GBP450.0 million during the year. Its gearing stood at 30% at March 31, "well within" its reduced target range of 40% to 50%.
Stripping out these costs, Assura said its underlying pretax profit, however, rose 78% to GBP28.3 million from GBP15.9 million a year earlier. For both financial years it benefited from gains on revaluation.
Assura reported a 20% growth in investment property to more than GBP1.10 billion from GBP900.0 million, as well as a 15% increase in tent roll to GBP63.8 million from GBP55.6 million.
Assura announced a full year dividend of 2.05 pence per share for the year, up from 1.85p per share a year earlier.
"The NHS is under great strain at the moment, but there is a growing consensus that more and better primary care is one of the answers to this. We need more GPs, to use them more effectively and with more diagnostic and specialist medical staff around them. We know that patients prefer being cared for by their local GPs and that this is much cheaper for the NHS than those patients going into Accident & Emergency," said Executive Chairman Simon Laffin.
"Larger, better quality premises are crucial to house these enhanced services. Fortunately the UK has a unique and efficient funding model in the primary care property sector that can deliver substantial additional private capital investment to support this, whilst allowing the government to control costs," Laffin added.
Shares in Assura were down 0.2% at 57.60p on Wednesday.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Assura