Just days after announcing a recommended cash offer for the company, Care REIT has reported annual results for 2024.

EPRA net tangible assets (NTA) were up 3.7% to £493.97m (119.21p per share), reflecting a 4.3% increase in property investments, which were independently valued at £679.0m.

EPRA earnings per share were up 2.4% to 8.89p, while adjusted earnings were up 1.9% to 7.42p. This covered its annual dividend (which itself was up 2.7% to 6.95p) by 107%.

Rent reviews in the year added 3.4% to contracted rent, increasing the contracted rent roll by £1.7m.

EPRA (net) LTV was 28.4% (2023: 27.8%), while the weighted average term of debt facilities was 5.5 years and the average cost of drawn debt was 4.7%. 88% of drawn debt facilities are fixed or hedged against interest rate rises for the remainder of this financial year. At 31 December 2024, the group had £52.2m of undrawn debt facilities and £10.5m cash, against commitments of £15.7m.

Operational highlights

• 2.2 times average annual rent cover, (2023: 2.0 times) reflecting tenants’ success in growing their fees, cost control and further increases in occupancy
• 100% collection of the rent due in the period with no voids.
• 89.1% underlying resident occupancy at the end of December 2024 (2023: 88.2%).
• Invested £14.0m, up from £4.7m in 2023, on asset improvement projects that will add a net 47 beds.
• During the year, exchanged contracts to purchase an 83-bed care home near Darlington, for £3.8m, and agreed to invest in the development of a new 72-bed home in Bedale, North Yorkshire, for a capped price of £8.7m.
• Sold five non-core assets for a total of £8.8m, in line with their latest valuation.

Simon Laffin, chair, commented:

“This year has been yet another year of progress for Care REIT, with our tenants continuing to strengthen their businesses, which in turn makes our business even more secure. We own quality care homes with good operators and play an ever more important role in the health infrastructure of the UK. The country needs more care homes to cope with an ageing population and to relieve stress on the NHS that struggles to discharge elderly patients with continuing care needs.

“The Board believes that our model of inflation-based rent reviews, with high rental cover, in a market where supply is very constrained and demand rising, continues to offer the basis for profitable growth. We believe that we could profitably invest more capital, both to acquire more care homes and to invest in enhancing our existing portfolio, but we remain constrained by high interest rates and the high discounts to net asset value that affect the UK REIT sector generally. This means that we cannot raise more capital to grow the business and achieve our potential.”