23rd May 2018 11:01
LONDON (Alliance News) - Assura PLC said Wednesday its profit fell despite the value of its portfolio and net rental income increasing.
The GP surgery builder said pretax profit for the year ended March decreased 25% to GBP71.8 million from GBP95.2 million the year before. This was despite a net rental income increase of 18% to GBP80.2 million from GBP67.9 million the year previous.
The value of the FTSE 250-listed company's property portfolio increased 29% to GBP1.7 billion from GBP1.3 billion year-on-year.
Assura said the dip in profit stems from the company paying GBP211 million of long-term loans held by Aviva Commercial Finance including early repayment costs of GBP56 million.
The property value increase and net rental income increase is due to Assura now managing 518 premises, up by 120 year-on-year - out of a total of about 9,000 surgery buildings in the UK. This is a total of GBP314 million in added property.
The company will increase its total dividend by 9.1% to 2.455 pence each from 2.25 pence the year before.
The NHS now accounts for 84% of Assura's total rent roll. About 7.5% of NHS patients use an Assura premise.
Looking ahead, Assura said it "stands ready" to support investment in the NHS but remains "frustrated" at the slow progress of the UK government turning policy into "meaningful" investment.
The company believes there is a consensus amongst all mainstream political parties in the UK to increase investment in primary care and that "will require more and better premises".
Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Murphy said: "We have delivered against our key objectives for the past year of growing the portfolio through acquisitions, strengthening the balance sheet to allow us to capitalise on the opportunities in our market and delivering sustainable returns to investors. Primary care remains key to the future requirements of the NHS. Our unique model, which delivers significant value to the NHS, and diversified funding structure, positions us well to deliver the improvements needed for a primary care estate that is fit for the future."
Shares in Assura were down 0.5% at 58.70 pence each Wednesday morning.
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