LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Care property developer and investor Assura reported a 3% rise in its first-half passing rent roll on Tuesday, to £139.3m, with a weighted average unexpired lease term of 11.5 years.
The FTSE 250 company said its net rental income was up 15% year-on-year in the six months ended 30 September, to £70m.

Its portfolio value rose 5% to £2.88bn, while its net initial yield widened by four basis points to 4.52%, from 4.48% at the end of March.

Assura said its IFRS profit before tax totalled £30.9m for the period, down from £69.3m a year earlier, as its earnings per share slid to one penny, from 2.6p, which the board put down to negative valuation movement.

EPRA earnings were up 20% to £49m, and EPRA earnings per share rose to 1.7p from 1.5p.

The board hiked the quarterly dividend by 5%, to 0.78p per share.

Looking at its financials, Assura reported a loan-to-value ratio of 38%, net debt of £1.09bn on a fully-unsecured basis, with a weighted average debt maturity of 7.5 years.

All of its drawn debt was on a fixed-rate basis, with a weighted average interest rate maintained at 2.3%, while cash and undrawn facilities totalled £284m.

"This has been another period of strong performance for Assura," said chief executive officer Jonathan Murphy.

"Further enhancements to our high-quality portfolio and good progress against our strategic priorities have resulted in an increase of 15% in net rental income and 13% growth in EPRA earnings per share.

"We have a strong balance sheet - characterised by long-term fixed rate debt at a weighted average rate of 2.3%."

Murphy said that given the current macroeconomic uncertainty, the firm would proceed "cautiously" with deploying capital in the short term, and continue to "carefully manage" its operating costs.

"More broadly, we see growing and consistent demand for high-quality community healthcare buildings that is not linked to the economic cycle.

"The need to invest in primary care has widespread cross-party political support - given it is cheaper for the NHS to deliver services in this setting and as pressure on hospital resources becomes increasingly unsustainable.

"Looking ahead, our proven strategy, specialist expertise, track record of delivery and a predictable, growing income stream - the majority underpinned by the NHS - means we are well placed to continue delivering attractive returns for shareholders over the long term."

At 1008 GMT, shares in Assura were up 0.11% at 57.17p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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