Primary Health Properties rental income grows YTD, hikes dividend

Healthcare facilities investor Primary Health Properties said on Tuesday that improved rental income had continued to drive its strong performance and dividend growth in the third quarter.

In the nine months to 30 September, the company generated an additional £3.3m of rental income from its rent review and asset management activities, both in the UK and in Ireland.

PHP said it continues to see an "improving rental growth outlook", in particular from rent reviews. An extra £3.1m of income was generated year-to-date from 243 reviews that have been settled, representing a 9.6% increase over the previous passing rent, equivalent to 4.4% on an annualised basis.

PHP added that it remains on course to generate in excess of £4.0m of extra income from rent reviews in 2023, driven by the impact of inflation on both indexed-linked and open-market value reviews. A further £200,000 was generated from asset management activities where the company has exchanged on five new projects, completed six lease re-gears, and three new lettings.

As a result, PHP, declared a fourth quarterly interim dividend of 1.675p per ordinary share on 13 October. The dividend will be paid by way of a property income distribution of 1.34p and a normal dividend of 0.335p, equivalent to 6.7p on an annualised basis and represents a 3.1% increase over the 6.5p paid in 2022.

Chief executive Harry Hyman said: "We continue to focus on income growth from our existing portfolio and are encouraged by the growth already seen in the year to date.

"The increasingly firmer tone of rental growth is positive and we believe in the medium term that PHP will be a beneficiary of the current inflationary environment both through open market and index-linked reviews."

The FTSE 250 group also said that its listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange was effective as of today and believes that the secondary listing will contribute to liquidity in its shares.

As of 0915 BST, Primary Health Properties shares were up 0.64% at 86.05p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com