Boss of healthcare property group Assura warns of growing care crisis
The UK healthcare crisis is getting more severe by the year, driving up demand for healthcare infrastructure, said Altrincham-based healthcare property specialist Assura, this morning.
In a trading update for the first quarter to June 30, 2024, today, CEO Jonathan Murphy, said Assura will work with whatever political party wins today’s General Election, going forward.
By the end of last month the group operated a portfolio of 612 properties, with an annualised rent roll of £149.2m, compared with £150.6m at the end of March, 2024.
Three developments have been completed with a total combined spend of £46m, while 42 rent reviews have been settled in the quarter, covering £7m of existing rent and generating an uplift of £0.5m – a 7.8% uplift on previous passing rent.
An initial tranche of seven assets – valued at £107m – have been agreed for transfer to the joint venture with USS, the universities’ pension fund, which was agreed in a deal in May this year.
Assura’s quarterly dividend was also increased by 2.4% to 0.84p per share, with effect from the July 2024 payment.
Looking ahead, the group is currently on site with five developments with a total cost of £46m (March 2024: eight, £92m) of which £32m is remaining to be spent.
There is an immediate development pipeline of five schemes, with a total cost of £28m (March 2024: five, £28m), and a pipeline of 15 capital asset enhancement projects, with a projected spend of £9m, over the next two years.
Net debt stands at £1.159bn (March 2024: £1.217bn) on a fully unsecured basis with cash and undrawn facilities of £293m.
Jonathan Murphy said: “Over the first three months of our financial year we have continued to deliver on our strategic objectives, and remain extremely well placed to help support the NHS and wider healthcare market. We deliver an exceptional product, have a strong financial position, and have a culture that focuses on all of our stakeholders to ensure we build strong relationships for the long term.
“At our results in May, we announced we had entered into a £250m joint venture with USS, the largest private pension scheme in this country. This represents a significant and exciting step for Assura, providing further diversity of funding for future growth. It also allows us to recycle capital into our pipeline of opportunities across broader healthcare markets including with NHS Trusts, private hospitals, mental health and in Ireland.
“We continue to look at further emerging opportunities which could be funded through a variety of sources, including third party capital, whilst operating within our stated LTV policy range of 40-50%.”
He added: “The UK healthcare crisis is getting more severe by the year, which, in turn, is driving increased demand for healthcare infrastructure. The requirement for investment in this space has received cross-party political support, and we look forward to working with whichever party is in government following today’s election.”
