CIVITAS Social Housing yesterday 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. Its net asset value per share rose just over one per cent during the period to 107.23p. 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 and had met "key performance objectives". 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 it acquired £10.2m of new properties. At the end of September, its portfolio consisted over 599 properties housing 4,114 tenants. Civitas shares closed 1.6 per cent up at 89.8p yesterday.

(c) 2019 City A.M., source Newspaper