LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Primary Health Properties reported a 109% rise in first-half adjusted earnings to £98m following its combination with Assura on Thursday, with adjusted earnings per share up 9% to 3.8p.
Net rental income more than doubled to £176m from £79m, while the EPRA cost ratio improved to 8.7% from 9.8%.

The FTSE 250 healthcare property investor's £6.0bn portfolio remained 99% occupied, with annualised contracted rent rising to £345m and adjusted net tangible assets unchanged at 104p per share.

PHP said it had delivered 92% of the £9m of annualised synergies targeted from the Assura combination and was progressing plans to reduce its 57% loan-to-value ratio.

"We have delivered strong earnings growth in the first half of the year, reflecting the integration of Assura and the robust underlying operational performance of the portfolio," said chief executive Mark Davies.

The group has agreed exclusive terms for a 50/50 joint venture that would be seeded with £0.7bn of private hospital assets, while its annualised dividend increased 2.8% to 7.3p per share, marking a 30th consecutive year of dividend growth.

At 1005 BST, shares in Primary Health Properties were up 0.36% at 97.05p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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