Continued growth of the portfolio
· 28.8% increase in investment property to £1.7 billion (2017: £1.3 billion)
· 6.3% growth in diluted EPRA NAV per share to 52.4 pence (2017: 49.3 pence)
· 22.3% increase in rent roll to £91.0 million (2017: £74.4 million)
Delivering for investors
· 4.2% increase in EPRA EPS to 2.5 pence (2017: 2.4 pence)
· Profit before tax of £71.8 million (2017: £95.2 million) reduced reflecting the net impact of the £56.4 million early repayment costs payable to Aviva
· Dividend increased by 9.1% to 2.455 pence (2017: 2.25 pence)
Strengthened balance sheet enabling reduction in cost of debt
· Over £400 million, gross of expenses, raised from equity placing in June 2017 and share issue in December 2017
· Weighted average cost of debt reduced by 94 bps to 3.12% (March 2017: 4.06%)
· £211 million of Aviva debt repaid in January 2018
· Unsecured revolving credit facility increased to £300 million at initial margin of 150 bps
· £150 million notes in two tranches privately placed in October 2017, weighted average coupon 3.04%, maturities of eight and ten years
Well positioned, sector leader in a market that is in significant need of investment
· Current LTV of 26% (2017: 37%) giving Assura significant headroom for future investment
· Strong pipeline with £152 million of acquisitions and developments
· Scalable internally managed operating model, with in-house development team
· Consensus that primary care must play a bigger role in health provision
· Significant underinvestment in the nation's primary care premises, many GP premises not currently fit for purpose
· Group operates in a highly fragmented market: portfolio of 518 medical centres compares with a total UK market of approximately 9,000 surgery buildings
Jonathan Murphy, CEO, 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.”