City round-up: Assura; Byotrol; Boohoo; Victrex; Frenkel Topping

Healthcare property group, Assura, has produced a quarter of strong financial performance and disciplined activity, it said in an update for the period to June 30, today.

The group, which is moving its HQ from Warrington to Altrincham this month, operates a portfolio of 610 properties with an annualised rent roll of £145.3m.

Two developments have been completed in the reporting period, its 100th development, in Wolverhampton, and a £22m scheme in Kettering. It completed one asset enhancement capital project (total spend £1.1m) and is on site with a further nine, with a total spend £8.2m.

There were 55 rent reviews settled in the quarter, covering £5.5m of existing rent and generating an uplift of £0.6m. The quarterly dividend increased by five per cent to 0.82p per share, as announced at the full year results, with effect from the July 2023 payment.

Assura is currently on site with nine developments with a total cost of £103m (March 2023: 11, £129m) of which £45m has been spent to date.

There is an immediate development pipeline of five schemes, where the group would normally expect to be on site within 12 months, total cost of £35m (March 2023: 5, £37m). However, the group continues to experience delays on pipeline schemes as it negotiates to ensure rents appropriately reflect the current cost of construction.

Also, there are 36 lease re-gears, covering £8.4m of existing rent roll, in the current pipeline, while there is a pipeline of 17 capital asset enhancement projects (projected spend £11m) over the next two years.

The group said it has a strong and sustainable financial position. The weighted average interest rate is unchanged at 2.30% (March 2023: 2.30%), with all drawn debt on a fixed rate basis.

There is a weighted average debt maturity of 6.8 years, and no refinancing on drawn debt due until October 2025. More than 50% of drawn debt matures beyond 2030, with the longest maturity debt at the group’s lowest rates.

Net debt is £1.144bn on a fully unsecured basis with cash and undrawn facilities of £234m.

CEO, Jonathan Murphy, said: “Assura has delivered another quarter of strong financial performance and disciplined activity.

“Our on-site activities progressed well, with two developments and one asset enhancement project reaching practical completion, providing high quality premises and enabling an improved range of health services for patients.

“We made good progress with rent reviews over the period, settling a further 55 reviews to generate an uplift of £0.6m.

“We continue to see many opportunities to work with the NHS in providing critical primary care infrastructure. Our leading market position, strong and sustainable financial position and pipeline of growth opportunities will allow us to continue to deliver against our proven strategy.”

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Daresbury-based hygiene group, Byotrol, has received approval of a UK patent following its discovery of unique anti-viral properties of certain enhanced extracts of commonly available brown seaweed.

The award is a result of many years of research by Byotrol’s technical team at its laboratories at Thornton Science Park, a University of Chester campus, and has been supported by the research scientists at the University of Liverpool led by Prof James Stewart, and by funding received from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Innovate UK.

The grant of the patent application gives Byotrol validated, valuable and protected intellectual property, to support the development of commercial relationships.

In the UK and Europe, seaweed extracts are not, as yet, approved as active materials for biocidal products, Byotrol’s established area of expertise. So, it is now actively exploring alternative applications in very sizeable markets such as over-the-counter (OTC) products for the prophylactic treatment of viral conditions including colds, flu, coronaviruses and cold sores.

Byotrol chairman, Dr Trevor Francis, said: “We are delighted to have secured the first patent for our seaweed-based anti-viral technologies. It is another good indication of the quality of our technical capability, and it will most certainly help us as we intensify the search for commercial partners. It also adds to our already significant level of intellectual property in antimicrobials.

“This patent further confirms Byotrol’s commitment to developing and commercialising natural and sustainable antimicrobial actives.”

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Fast fashion retailer Boohoo

Boohoo has taken a break from its row with Revolution Beauty this week and granted share awards to 46 employees. Following last week’s stinging criticism from Revolution on the executive director incentive scheme, Boohoo was keen to point out that no executive directors were given more shares. 

The share awards have a vesting period of three years ending on 28 June 2026 and only apply if the employee stays at the company. 

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Jakob Sigurdsson

Lancashire-headquartered global polymers business Victrex still expects to make pre-tax profits of £80m but has updated the market this morning that revenues are down on last year.

Indicating Q3 Group revenue down 23% to £72.2m (Q3 2022: £93.4m), volume down 38% to 818 tonnes (Q3 2022: 1,323 tonnes) and year to date revenue of £234.4m down 8% down on last year, Jakob Sigurdsson, Chief Executive cited “destocking” and “macro-economic weakness” as factors.

He said Electronics, Energy & Industrial and Value Added Resellers. Aerospace and Medical continue to perform strongly, whilst Automotive is stable year-to-date.

“Overall, our Outlook is unchanged from what we recently communicated, with full-year adjusted (pre-exceptional) PBT expected to be in the range of £80m-£85m. As we move into the final quarter, strong average selling prices, mix, energy costs and cost discipline remain supportive, and we continue to be well-placed for when the macro-economic environment improves,” he said.

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Richard Fraser

Frenkel Topping Group, the Salford-based specialist professional and financial services firm operating in the personal injury (PI) and clinical negligence (CN) space, has agreed a partnership with a new major trauma centre.

The partnership, through its Cardinal Management business, acquired in January 2022, is with John Radcliffe Hospital, run by Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and it follows a lengthy period of engagement. This takes its total number of major trauma centres to 10, including two new sites in the first half of this financial year.

The Cardinal acquisition enables the group to provide a clear and direct link to claimants and their professional representatives, at the earliest stage possible after serious injury or illness. This, in turn, introduces the portfolio of FTG services in a relevant and timely way to its clients in the PI and CN litigation space as well as claimants themselves.

Over the past seven years the Major Trauma Signposting Partnership delivered by Cardinal, has helped more than 8,000 patients at NHS Major Trauma Centres.

Andrew Pemberton, Cardinal managing director, said: “Our team is looking forward to getting going as quickly as we can so that patients can start getting access to bedside welfare advice and support.”

Frenkel Topping CEO, Richard Fraser, said: “The new partnership with John Radcliffe hospital, the second in as many months, is testament to the hard work and dedication from Andrew and his team at Cardinal.”