It has been a busy fortnight for GP landlord Assura (AGR). Having fended off an opportunistic approach from sector rival MedicX (MXF), the company posted its first meaningful annual results since the dramatic upheavals of late 2011, when a new chairman appointed a new board and management team and led a rights issue and refinancing.
Assura has sold off most of its legacy assets - "non-core" properties are now worth £20.5m, compared with £524m for the portfolio of 162 primary-care centres - and chief executive Graham Roberts expects to sell the rest over the next year or so. That will leave Assura a pure play on doctors' surgeries.
These are resilient properties with compelling long-term growth prospects, as the NHS wants to divert its service provision away from expensive hospitals. But the body's reorganisation has led to a hiatus in development, which has sapped rental growth for landlords. Assura’s rent reviews during the year showed an average increase of 2.4 per cent - down from 3.4 per cent the previous year - and this lower figure was exaggerated by inflation-indexed leases and reviews pending from previous years.
The company increased the quarterly dividend by 6 per cent in April and committed to an annual payout for the year to March 2014 of 1.21p per share.
ASSURA GROUP (AGR) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 36p | MARKET VALUE: | £189m | |
| TOUCH: | 35.8-36p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 40p | LOW: 27p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.2% | TRADING PROP: | £12m | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 4% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROP: | £569m | NET DEBT: | 181% | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 54.5 | -99.8 | -37.6 | nil |
| 2010 | 52.0 | 4.4 | 2.1 | nil |
| 2011 | 50.5 | 8.1 | 2.3 | 2.25 |
| 2012 | 35.5 | -63.3 | -13.5 | 1.25 |
| 2013 | 37.4 | 14.3 | 2.7 | 1.16 |
| % change | +5 | - | - | -7 |
Ex-div: 10 Apr Payment: 24 Apr | ||||
