Assura plc, the Warrington-based healthcare real estate investment trust (REIT), said on Monday it completed nine acquisitions in its third quarter for £105 million and now has a portfolio of 634 properties with current annualised rent roll of £132.5 million.

The firm is currently on site with 14 developments with a total cost of £97 million.

In a trading update for the third quarter of the year ending December 31, 2021, Assura said it has an immediate development pipeline of 22 schemes, where it expects to be on site within 12 months, totalling a further £166 million.

The REIT said it has an immediate acquisitions pipeline of £71 million in legal hands.

Assura’s net debt at December 31 stood at £957 million with a weighted average interest rate of 2.3%.

Assura CEO Jonathan Murphy said: “It has been another strong quarter of progress as we have swiftly deployed the proceeds of our successful November equity placing.

“Our experienced internal investment and development teams have ensured activity continues apace. In the last quarter we completed £105 million of acquisitions.

“We have also moved on site with two new development schemes and are currently on site with 14 schemes at a total cost of £97 million.

“These activities build on our recent track record of growing our portfolio and driving further scale benefits, and our replenished pipelines provide further significant growth opportunities. 

“As the booster and vaccination programmes continue – with some of our buildings acting as major hubs – the urgent need for high-quality primary care capacity to support the significant effort required to address the backlog from the pandemic will be in even sharper focus in the coming months.

“Assura continues to be a partner of choice to the NHS in helping to deliver this critical capacity.”