Healthcare property group prices £300m Sustainability Bond
Warrington-based healthcare property investor and developer, Assura, has announced the pricing of its first Sustainability Bond, worth £300m.
The creation of the 12-year bond follows a series of UK fixed income investor meetings which generated strong institutional demand.
The bond will bear interest at a rate of 1.625% per annum and will be issued by Assura Financing and guaranteed by Assura and a number of the Assura group’s subsidiaries.
This Sustainability Bond is the first issued under the Assura Sustainable Finance Framework and the proceeds will be used to fund or refinance eligible green and social projects, specifically the acquisition, development or refurbishment of publicly accessible primary care and community healthcare centres with green building certification as appropriate.
HSBC Bank and JP Morgan Securities acted as joint active bookrunners.
Barclays Bank, NatWest Markets, Banco Santander SA and Stifel Nicolaus Europe acted as passive bookrunners. Assura was advised on the bond and credit rating by Rothschild & Co.
Jayne Cottam, Assura chief financial officer, said: “This is our first Sustainability Bond, following on from the Social Bond we issued in 2020, and has been met with a strong level of support from bond investors.
“We want to make a real difference through the spaces we create and manage.
“Our social impact strategy, SixBySix, aims to maximise our contribution to society and minimise our impact on the environment.
“The issuance of our first Sustainability Bond fits naturally with SixBySix with the proceeds being used to fund eligible green and social projects.”
Last month Assura announced it had increased its quarterly dividend following another strong financial performance.
The company reported net income of £121.7m for the year to the end of March 2021.
That was up 12% from £108.9m in the previous year. Pre-tax profit grew 37% to £108.3m, up from £78.9m in 2020.
The medical centre landlord announced its eighth consecutive year of dividend growth with a 4.2% increase in quarterly dividend to 0.74 p per share with effect from the July 2021 payment.
During the period, Assura grew its portfolio of properties from 576 to 609, serving 5.9 million people across the UK.
