Assura increases rent rolls with 75 acquisitions in first half
Assura
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16:45 19/04/24
Assura, the UK healthcare property developer, accelerated the rate of its investment in past six months and said it had a strong pipeline of future acquisitions and developments.
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In the six months to 30 September, the FTSE 250-listed company acquired 75 medical centres for a total of £154m, with a combined passing rent roll of £7.7m and a weighted average lease of 12.7 years.
Three developments were also completed with an aggregate valuation of £10.8m and a passing rent of £0.5m.
Assura said the increased rate of investment partly reflected the completion of a small number of portfolio transactions as well as an ongoing progress of refreshing the pipeline of individual investment opportunities.
Assura's 475 medical centres boasted a total annualised rent roll of £83m, up from £74.4m at the end of March, with rental growth in the financial year to date driven primarily by acquisitions.
The weighted average annual rent increase was 1.81% based on 88 reviews settled in the first half, of which the average annual rent increase derived from open market rent reviews was 0.83%.
Having placed £98m of shares before expenses in June, borrowings stood at £591.7m at the end of September, with a weighted average cost of debt cut to 3.78% from the 4.06% at the end of March, with a weighted average debt maturity of 7.9 years.
Assura's proforma net loan to value ratio was 37% at the period end.
"The pace in converting potential investment opportunities into acquisitions has been ahead of our expectations in the first half," said chief executive Jonathan Murphy.
"The growth of our portfolio allows us to continue to build on our leading position in the sector and further benefit from increased economies of scale while also maintaining a sound balance sheet. There is strong support across the UK political spectrum for more investments in modern primary care premises, and Assura is well placed to deliver this in a market that is in critical need of financial support."