REIT on Target for £50m rent roll

Target Healthcare’s portfolio has increased by 11% over the past year to £685m as it looks to increase its annual rent to £50m. Over the year it bought £70m of properties, taking the portfolio to 77 sites, consisting of 73 operational care homes and four prelet sites. As well as growing through acquisitions, the REIT also benefitted from a like-for-like valuation growth of 3.8%, up from 2020’s rise of 2.8%. The healthcare specialist reported a NAV total return of 8.8%, up from 2020’s 7.0%, driven by growth of the underlying portfolio value. Earnings per share increased by 2.1% to 110.4p, while adjusted EPRA earnings per share increased by 3.6% to 5.46p, despite the REIT investing cautiously due to Covid-19. The REIT added that it collected 95% of rent over the year and its rent roll grew by 5.6% to £41.2m pa. That will soon reach £50m as it adds a further 18 sites to its portfolio. Chair Malcolm Naish said: “It is crucial to us that our longstanding approach is ‘doing the right thing’ through the provision of fit-for-purpose care facilities which are also comfortable living, visiting and social spaces.” He added that the REIT’s recent £125m equity issuance, alongside additional debt capacity, “allows us to add further assets to the portfolio”. The addition of a significant portfolio of 18 sites, which will deliver £9.1m of annual rent, will complete “imminently”, he said. To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews