Target Healthcare ready to spend after resilient results

Target Healthcare REIT is preparing to hit the acquisition trail with the proceeds of its £60m fundraise, after posting a set of resilient results for the second half of last year. The company ended 2020 with cash reserves of £18.3m as well as £58m in undrawn credit facilities, and a loan-to-value ratio of 22.2%. This month, the company raised £60m in an equity raise, and said today that it had identified several new targets. Chairman Malcolm Naish said: “The [investment] manager has identified an attractive pipeline of investment opportunities and also reports significant interest in the type of real estate we hold, with some evidence that the ‘flight to quality’ within the sector is accelerating. We look forward to deploying the capital raised and continuing to grow our portfolio on accretive terms while remaining highly selective with our approach to acquisition opportunities.” Over the six months to 31 December, the care home investor posted revenue of £24.8m, up by a fifth on the same period a year ago. Pretax profit of £15.8m was down by about 4%. NAV total return of 3.3% was down from 3.8% a year earlier. The value of the REIT’s portfolio rose by almost 5% to £647.7m, including like-for-like growth of 1.3%, with a rent roll up by 4.2% at £40.6m. Naish said: “The Covid-19 vaccination programme provides a massive relief to residents, their friends and families, and care staff. While our outlook for our homes and the sector is optimistic, we recognise that trading conditions may remain challenging for a period for some homes as we continue to emerge from the worst of the pandemic. Positive relationships with our tenants are fundamental to our business model and we remain a highly engaged and supportive landlord.” To send feedback, e-mail tim.burke@egi.co.uk or tweet @_tim_burke or @estatesgazette