City round-up: Assura; Altitude Group

Assura, the Warrington-based healthcare property group, reported a busy first half period, in a trading update for the six months to September 30, today.

Chief executive, Jonathan Murphy, said: “Assura has been extremely active so far this financial year.

“We have made good progress with our investment and development strategy, demonstrating our capabilities and building on our market leading position. We added 27 properties to our portfolio in the period, comprising seven new development completions and 20 acquisitions for a combined total cost of £117m, while also completing 11 disposals for cash proceeds of £15m.”

He added: “The NHS has been put under ever increasing strain by COVID, which has highlighted capacity constraints in hospitals, increased waiting lists, and exposed older buildings as inadequate for current healthcare requirements.

“Assura’s experience, built up through years of close engagement with the NHS, means we are well positioned to deliver the future innovative community buildings this country needs and support the NHS through key emerging trends including digitalisation, the integration of healthcare systems and mental health support.

“Assura is proud to have invested over £1bn into primary care properties since April 2017 and currently have a record development pipeline totalling £480m.”

The group said it currently has a growing portfolio of 625 properties with a current annualised rent roll of £127.5m. It had 27 property additions (seven development completions and 20 acquisitions) for total cost of £117 million over the reporting period.

Three development schemes moved onto site, including the West Midlands Ambulance Hub announced in June 2021, and 11 disposals were completed, above the March 2021 book value, for cash proceeds of £15m. Five lease regears were completed, representing £200,000 of existing rent, and the group is currently on site with five capital asset enhancement projects with a total spend of £3.7m.

Assura’s development and acquisition pipelines provide significant growth opportunities. The group is on site with 12 developments with a total cost of £72m following the seven successful completions in the period.

There is an immediate development pipeline of 20 schemes, where Assura expects to be on site within 12 months, totalling a further £145m, compared with £111m at March 2021.

Assura also has an extended development pipeline of £263m – schemes on which it is appointed exclusive development partner but currently awaiting NHS approval.

The total development pipeline stands at £480m, ie on site, immediate and extended, while there is an immediate acquisitions pipeline of £102m, which the group would normally expect to complete in 3-6 months. That compares with £46m at March this year.

There are 56 lease re-gears covering £6.7m of existing rent roll in the current pipeline, and a pipeline of 19 capital asset enhancement projects (projected spend £15m) over the next two years.

The group said it has a robust financial position. A 12-year 1.625% £300m Sustainability Bond was issued in June 2021, and at September 30, 2021, net debt stood at £1.015bn with a weighted average interest rate of 2.3%.

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Nichole Stella

Altitude Group has appointed a new chief financial officer, in Graham Feltham, with immediate effect.

The Manchester-based operator of a leading marketplace for the global promotional products industry, said that, further to its announcement on June 25, Graeme Couturier has resigned from the board with immediate effect and will leave the company following a short handover period with Graham.

Graham Feltham is an experienced public company CFO, and joins from AIM-listed Newmark Security, where he was appointed CFO in 2019.

He began his career at Ernst & Young, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2000. Subsequently, Graham worked at Belron International, the world’s largest vehicle glass repair and replacement company.

Following his time at Belron, he spent approximately five years at StatPro Group plc, an AIM-listed software development group, as European financial controller and group financial controller, where he managed the external financial reporting and performance and analysis teams.

Following StatPro, he spent more than four years as group financial controller of Safetykleen Group, a private equity-owned group specialising in a recurring book of business in surface cleaners and with annual revenues of more than £235m.

He played a key role in the sale of Safetykleen by Warbug Pincus to APAX Partners for £800m in 2017. He joined Newmark Security from Safetykleen in 2019.

Nichole Stella, Altitude chief executive, said: “We are delighted to welcome Graham Feltham to the board.

“He brings a wealth of knowledge and commercial experience to our finance team. His expertise will be instrumental in delivering accelerated growth in the future.

“A sincere thank you to Graeme Couturier for his contribution to the business and best wishes for future success.”

Graham Feltham said: “I am absolutely delighted to be welcomed to the board of Altitude Group PLC. I have joined at an exciting time in the journey and relish the prospect of being part of a very focused and growth oriented leadership team.”