Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 3299M

Assura Group Limited

15 August 2011

 



15 August 2011

Assura Group Limited ("Assura" or the "Company")

First Quarter Interim Management Statement

Assura today publishes the following Interim Management Statement covering the period from 1 April 2011 to date. The Company has made good strategic and operational progress during the period under review and trading has been in line with Board expectations.

Highlights:

·     Weighted average rental growth of 5.17 per cent per annum, equivalent to £0.2m per annum, from 24 reviews agreed so far this financial year. The weighted average lease length of the portfolio is 16.5 years withover 85% of rents reimbursed by the NHS, 11% of which are RPI linked and the annual rent roll is currently £32.3m.

·     Total property assets valued at £519.6m at 31 March 2011 with an NAV of £220.1m or 54p per share.

·     Sale completed of the entire issued share capital of Assura Pharmacy Limited for a total consideration of £39.3m, a significant step in fulfilling the Company's strategic aim of becoming a pure play property company. The Company's FTSE classification is currently under review and Assura expects to be reclassified as a real estate holding and development company at the next FTSE review in September.

·     Three developments with an end value of £21.1m were completed and a further three developments with an estimated end value of £5.9m were commenced.

·     Construction work continues on a further five medical centres that were on site at 01 April and which have an estimated end value of £20.2m.

·     The Group continues to seek further acquisition opportunities of both individual medical centres and portfolios that would enhance earnings for the Company.

·     Despite some uncertainty surrounding the NHS reorganisation, the Company does not believe this will have a material impact on Assura's long term growth and expects further developments to commence this year.

·     Since the publication of the Final Results on 21 June 2011 there has been an increase in the mark to market deficit of the Group's financial derivatives totalling £17.6m from 31 March 2011 (deficit of £17.3m) to 31 July 2011 (deficit of £34.9m). We are continuing to pursue the refinancing of our loan from National Australia Bank and will benefit from correspondingly lower future debt costs if these low rates persist.

·     Simon Laffin joined the Board as a non-executive Director and Chairman designate. Simon's strong corporate and property experience will be increasingly valuable as Assura focuses solely on its medical property interests.

Commenting on the period Nigel Rawlings, CEO of Assura, said "We continue to make good progress in our strategy of becoming a pure play property company. Following the disposal of the pharmacy business the Group has attracted new property investors as shareholders and there has been increased interest from real estate research analysts. With a robust property portfolio and healthy development pipeline, the Group is well positioned for future growth."

Ends.

Enquiries:

Nigel Rawlings / Carolyn Jones: Assura Group: 01925 420690

Ben Atwell/Stephanie Cuthbert: Financial Dynamics: 020 7831 3113

 

END

 

 

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