Civitas Social Housing raises interim dividend as profit jumps
Civitas Social Housing has raised its interim dividend after reporting increases in pre-tax profit and revenue for the first half as the value of its portfolio continued to climb.
Profit before tax rose 65 per cent to £17.4m during the six months to 30 September at the real estate investment trust, while revenue rose 45 per cent to £22.7m.
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Civitas raised its interim dividend six per cent to 2.65p per share, with a full-year target dividend of 5.3p.
Non-executive chairman Michael Wrobel said the company was pleased with the “strong set” of results, with “key performance objectives met”.
Civitas Social Housing is the largest provider of specialist supported living accommodation to tenants with learning disabilities, autism, and mental health conditions in the UK.
During the first half, the company’s investment property portfolio value jumped 24 per cent to £841.5m and Civitas acquired £10.2m of new properties.
At the end of September, its portfolio consisted over 599 properties housing 4,114 tenants.
Its net asset value per share rose just over one per cent during the period to 107.23p.
“The supply-demand imbalance in specialist supported accommodation continues to be severe and driven by strong demographic trends resulting in specialist supported living being one of the fastest growing sub-sectors in healthcare real estate,” said Wrobel.
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“We also continue to play a key role in helping and supporting the increasing professionalisation of the sector and assisting our housing association partners as they seek to meet their regulatory obligations,” he added.
Civitas shares rose 0.11 per cent to 88.5p following the results.