Primary Health Properties: Steady progress, encouraging prospects

Primary Health Properties (LON:PHP) recently announced interim results for the period to June 30, 2020. The company reported net rental income of £64.8mln, up 20.4% versus H1 2019. Net profit was up 29.0% at £36.0mln (European Public Real-estate Association earnings measure). Dividend per share for the first half was increased by 5.4% to 2.95p, in line with our expectation of 5.9p for the full year.

With additional capital raised post-period-end, the company reported pro-forma balance sheet gearing of 40.3%' leaving headroom within the upside maximum target of 50%. This balance sheet position supports the company’s ability to execute on its pipeline of property acquisitions and upgrades, with a current pipeline of £128mln of investment opportunities.