Care home landlord Public Service Properties Investments (PSPI) has spent the past year engaged in a savage overhaul of its entire business. The expiry of a major debt package forced it to sell roughly two-thirds of its UK estate last July to its embattled largest tenant, European Care Group, in exchange for a 20 per cent equity stake. In December, it went on to ditch its properties in the US and Switzerland as well as two care homes in Germany - raising some cash in the process
With the assets sold quickly in a weak market, the company's book value has plummeted by about a half. Yet the group does now look on a more stable financial footing, with a gross loan-to-value ratio of 35 per cent and just one remaining debt deadline to meet in December.
The company is now effectively in wind-up mode, with management continuing to "test the market" for its remaining properties - albeit without the urgency of last year. These consist mainly of nine better-performing care homes in the UK and six in Germany. The bulk of the German properties are leased to a listed operator called Marseille Kliniken, and are backed with a new debt package that matures in 2020, which should help them sell.
PUBLIC SERVICE PROPERTIES INVESTMENTS (PSPI) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 26p | MARKET VALUE: | £27m | |
| TOUCH: | 25-27p | 12-MONTHHIGH: | 28p | LOW: 10p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PROPERTY HELD FOR SALE: | £22.8m | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 53% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROP: | £84m | NET DEBT: | 52% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 155 | -0.37 | -0.56 | 6.0 |
| 2009 | 155 | 7.85 | 8.89 | 6.5 |
| 2010 | 120 | -2.37 | 0.65 | 7.0 |
| 2011 | 108 | -11.4 | -10.9 | 2.5 |
| 2012 | 54.9 | -49.2 | -45.9 | nil |
| % change | -49 | - | - | -100 |
Ex-div: - Payment: - | ||||
