Assura Group Limited
27 March 2007
27 March 2007
Enquiries: Richard Burrell/Nigel Rawlings Tel: 020 7107 3800
Assura Group
Tony Langham/Henrietta Guthrie/Charlotte Edgar Tel: 07979 692 287 /
Lansons Communications 020 7294 3622
Assura Group Limited (the 'Company' or 'Group')
Preliminary Results to 31 December 2006
Assura Group Limited invests in and develops primary health care property,
community hospitals, integrated pharmacy and joint venture limited liability
partnerships with GPs to provide out-patient and diagnostic procedures in
primary care.
These Preliminary results are in respect of the year to 31 December 2006.
Highlights:
• Group operating profit £12.9m (2005: loss of £10.6m)
• Final dividend up 20% to 4p (6p in total)
• £105.9m of new equity raised in May 2006
• Net assets £267.5m equivalent to 114.3p per share
• Net debt £28.2m (10% gearing) - significant additional debt capacity
• Business model for primary care fully established
• Transition from investment fund to asset-backed operating company
• Acquisition of Berrington completed
All three divisions developing as planned:
Assura Property
• £430m1 of capital committed over 118 sites at an average NIY of circa
6.5%2
• On target to invest or commit £750m by end 2009
Assura Pharmacy
• Ten pharmacies open1
• On target to open 20 by end 2007 and at least 30 by end 2008
Assura Medical
• Five LLPs formed to provide services to circa 600,000 patients
• On target to have 1.5 million patients by end 2007 and 5m by 2010
1 As at 20 March 2007
2 Prior to accounting for revaluation surpluses
3 Ex-dividend date 4 April 2007, Record date 10 April 2007, Payment date 4 May
2007
Commenting on the Results, Richard Burrell, Chief Executive of the Company,
said:
"2006 was a very satisfactory year for the Group and I am pleased to report
strong progress in acquiring and developing properties, the successful
development of the Group's pharmacy operating business and the launch of the new
medical provider business which forms collaborative joint ventures with GPs to
enable the shift of outpatient and other services from hospitals into the
community.
During the year, the Company has transformed itself from being an externally
managed investment company (as The Medical Property Investment Fund) to a fully
fledged asset-backed operating company with its own management and staff
totalling over 200 persons.
£430m has now been committed across 118 sites throughout the UK and our target
is to commit £750 million by the end of 2009. The pharmacy division has made
excellent progress during the year, with ten pharmacies now trading and is on
target to open 20 pharmacies by the end of 2007 and at least 30 by end 2008. The
medical division has been working in partnership with the GPs and now has five
joint ventures underway, covering 600,000 patients and is on target to form
joint ventures covering 1.5 million patients by the end of this year.
Assura Group is a leading participant in the primary health care market and is
supportive of a modern NHS capable of delivering increased services to patients
in the community. Our business model is in line with the Government's White
Paper and supports GPs and Health Professionals to fulfill the criteria of
treating patients closer to home. We are in a unique position to meet the needs
of the rapidly evolving NHS and we intend to be one of the UK's leading health
care provider organisations."
The full text of the Preliminary Results are available on RNS.
Ends
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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