Investment Grade Credit Rating Affirmed

RNS Number : 5105B

Civitas Social Housing PLC

14 February 2022

 

 14 February 2022

CIVITAS SOCIAL HOUSING PLC

Investment Grade Credit Rating Affirmed

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Civitas Social Housing PLC's Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'A-' with a Stable Outlook, and its senior secured rating at 'A'

The Board of Civitas Social Housing PLC ("Civitas" or the "Company"), the UK's leading care-based and healthcare REIT, is pleased to announce that Fitch Ratings Limited ("Fitch") has affirmed the Company's existing Investment Grade rating of "A" (senior secured) and a Long-Term IDR (Issuer Default Rating) of "A-" with a Stable Outlook. Fitch published their first rating on the Company in March 2021 with the same Investment Grade distinctions.

The latest Fitch report published on 10^th February 2022 highlights the following attributes which it observes in the Company and its investment strategy:

· A net debt/EDITDA ratio of under 8.0x and interest cover around 5.0x;

· Assisting local authorities to meet their obligations to provide accommodation and support for vulnerable adults with significant care needs;

· Facilitating provision that is at a lower cost to the State than other appropriate alternatives such as hospital settings;

· Long-term contracts reflecting the on-going need for these specialist assets and provision of care for longer-living tenants.

The Fitch Rating Action Commentary can be read in full here .

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Civitas Investment Management Limited
Andrew Dawber	Tel: [phone]
Paul Bridge	Tel: [phone]
Panmure Gordon
Sapna Shah	Tel: [phone]
Tom Scrivens	Tel: [phone]
Liberum Capital Limited
Chris Clarke / Darren Vickers / Owen Matthews	Tel: [phone]
Buchanan
Helen Tarbet / Henry Wilson	Tel: [phone]
Hannah Ratcliff / George Beale	[e-mail]

Notes:

Civitas Social Housing PLC (CSH) was created in 2016 by Civitas Investment Management Limited as the first dedicated London listed REIT to raise long-term, sustainable, institutional capital to invest in care-based social homes and healthcare facilities across the UK. So far, Civitas has completed more than 120 individual transactions to build the largest portfolio of its kind that has been independently valued at £946.3million (30 September 2021). CSH now provides homes for 4,404 working age adults with long-term care needs, in 649 bespoke properties that are supported by 119 specialist care providers, 18 approved providers and working with over 178 individual local authorities.

 

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