Assura is a buy for its long term income stream. <\/p>\n
Simon Laffin, chairman of property group Assura, spent more than 300,000 on shares in the group last week. It is always a positive sign when management make such a confident statement on a companys prospects. <\/p>\n
The business owns and operates primary health care properties such as GP surgeries. Its (Euronext: ALITS.NX - news) business model is similar to Primary Health Properties (Other OTC: PYHPF.PK - news) , but the group is smaller. It plans to convert to a real estate investment trust in April next year. <\/p>\n
Interim results released last week were positive. In the six months to September, pre-tax profit was 6.5m compared with a 26.3m loss last year. Last years loss related to charges associated with an interest rate swap that went bad. This resulted in a rights issue but this issue is now behind the company. The balance sheet has been fixed and the company is ready for growth. The primary health care industry offers positive growth prospects. Most GP surgeries are old and dated and more modern health care facilities will be built over the next decade, especially after GPs get involved in commissioning decisions from April 2013. <\/p>\n
In the past six months, Assuras rent roll was 36.2m compared with 34.9m. Its property rose 3.7pc in value over the past six months. <\/p>\n
The company pays dividends quarterly, which at the moment stand at 0.285p a share. The prospective yield is 3.2p, rising to 3.6pc next year, which is not astoundingly high, but the company has a progressive dividend policy and the average lease length on core portfolio of 15.5 years. <\/p>\n
The shares are trading on a discount to its net asset value of almost 10pc. Questor likes the long-term dividend stream. Buy. <\/p>\n
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The rest is here: <\/p>\n
Questor share tip: Health care group Assura has good long-term prospects<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Assura is a buy for its long term income stream. Simon Laffin, chairman of property group Assura, spent more than 300,000 on shares in the group last week. It is always a positive sign when management make such a confident statement on a companys prospects Continue reading