Results round-up
London-focused residential property developer Telford Homes updated the market on its trading on Wednesday, saying it anticipated record revenue and profit for the year ended 31 March.
The AIM-traded firm said profit before tax was expected to be up by more than 30%, slightly ahead of current market expectations.
It said its strong performance was reflected in a three percentage point improvement in gross and operating margins.
Telford also claimed a 100% customer recommendation rate in 2017, which the board said demonstrated its commitment to quality and service.
The company said there remained a “robust market” for its homes in London, assisted by a broad mix of sales between build to rent, individual investors, owner-occupiers and housing associations.
More than 100 homes were sold at the launch of New Garden Quarter in Stratford in January, the company highlighted.
It also reported continuing demand from build-to-rent investors, with the group exploring ongoing partnerships to enhance supply to the sector.
More than 2,900 homes were currently under construction, Telford confirmed, with scope to “significantly increase” that in the coming years.
Its total development pipeline stood at more than 4,000 homes, with several new opportunities being actively pursued.
A new, longer-term £210m corporate loan facility was negotiated at lower interest rate during the year.
Telford said its strategy was focussed on expanding its build-to-rent output, to support further growth and enabling it to deliver more of the homes that it believes London needs.
"Telford Homes continues to perform well and I expect to once again report record revenue and profit for the year to 31 March," said chief executive Jon Di-Stefano.
"As we increase the scale of the business, our growth is underpinned by the lack of supply of new homes in London and demand for our product at more affordable price points remains strong.
"Build to rent is the most exciting part of our business in the near term and I believe our increased focus on this sector will drive the next phase of our growth and bring even greater success."
Telford said it would release its final results for the year ended 31 March on 30 May.
Mediclinic International said it expects profits for the year to be marginally ahead of expectations, thanks to a "significant" second half improvement in its Middle East and Southern Africa hospitals.
The Middle East division had reached an "inflection point", management of the FTSE 100 company said, which has seen revenue in the second half grow by around 6% compared to last year and around 12% sequentially on the first half, with low double-digit percentage growth expected for the next financial year.
Helped by this turnaround, the group expects full year revenue is expected to be up around 4% to £2.9bn, or 2% if currency swings are excluded. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation up 3% to £0.5bn, or flat if excluding foreign currency movements.
Adjusted earnings per share, impacted by the equity accounted share of reported profit after tax from the 29% stake in FTSE 250 listed Spire Healthcare is expected to be broadly flat on the prior year's 29.8p.
"We are succeeding with the turnaround of the Abu Dhabi business and laying the foundation for long-term, sustainable performance," said chief executive Danie Meintjes, who is retiring later this year.
"The Middle East division is now entering an expansionary phase that we expect will drive a strong increase in revenue and improvement in margins over time."
Abu Dhabi's operating performance has been improved in the existing business, with growth to come from expansion of the Mediclinic Airport Road, Mediclinic Al Noor and the new Mediclinic Western Region hospitals. Dubai has seen a "strong performance" in established hospitals and new 182-bed Mediclinic Parkview Hospital is now expected to be commissioned in October 2018, some 6 months ahead of schedule.
The Swiss business is expected to see revenue growth of around 1.8% to 1.7bn Swiss francs as performance was impacted by the timing of the Easter period, a subdued summer market, the continued change in insurance mix and the evolving changes in the regulatory environment, but benefited from the acquisition of the Linde Private Hospital at the end of last June. EBITDA margin is expected to be around 18.3%, down from 20%.
In Southern Africa, performance was ahead of expectations, with revenue up by roughly 5% to 15.1bn rand as inpatient bed days dropped 1.5% and revenue per bed day climbed around 6.7%. EBITDA margin is expected to be stable at around 21.2%.
For 2019, the Middle East division is expected to deliver "low double-digit percentage" revenue growth in the with EBITDA margin of existing operations expected to increase by around 250 basis points and to continue improving year-on-year to around 20% in the 2022 financial year.
South Africa is expected to see stable medical insurance membership and no forecast increase in bed capacity, with revenue growth driven by an expected increase in bed days sold of 1-2%.
Switzerland expects modest revenue growth supported by an increase in average bed capacity for the year, largely related to the Linde acquisition. FY19 EBITDA margin is expected to shrink by around 100 basis points from the