Amendment of financing arrangements

Wednesday 25 May 2016

McCarthy & Stone plc (LSE: MCS)

Amendment of financing arrangements

McCarthy & Stone (the "Group"), the UK's leading retirement housebuilder, today announces it has amended its financing arrangements relating to the Group's £200m revolving credit facility ("RCF").

The amendment of the RCF has resulted in improved commercial terms, including the extension of the facility's maturity from 19 December 2019 to 23 May 2021, and improved margin terms, which will save the Group c.£1m per annum in interest expense.  There has been no change to the size of the facility, which remains at £200m, and the Group reiterates its intention to maintain a strong balance sheet with appropriate headroom against the facility.

Nick Maddock, Chief Financial Officer, commented:

"This timely refinancing demonstrates the strong and ongoing support of McCarthy & Stone's relationship banks. It allows us to benefit from the prevailing favourable market conditions and extend our debt maturity on more cost-effective terms.  The new arrangement supports our £2.5bn investment programme and our medium-term strategic objective of building and selling more than 3,000 units per annum by 2019."

For further information please contact:

McCarthy & Stone, +44 (0) 1202 292480

Clive Fenton, Chief Executive Officer

Nick Maddock, Chief Financial Officer

Paul Teverson, Director of Communications

Notes to Editors

About McCarthy & Stone 

McCarthy & Stone is the UK's leading retirement housebuilder with a c.70% share of the owner-occupied market¹.  The Group has sold almost 51,000 properties across more than 1,100 retirement developments since 1977 and is renowned for its focus on the needs of those in later life.  It re-joined the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange in November 2015 and re-entered the FTSE 250 following its quarterly review on 21 March 2016. 

UK demographics remain strongly in favour of the specialist retirement housing market, with the number of people aged over 85 in the UK expected to more than double between 2014 and 2033, from 1.5m to 3.5m, and the number of over 65 year olds expected to increase by more than 50%, from 11.4m to 17.2m.  According to recent research, 1 in 4 over 60s are interested in retirement living², yet only c.141,000 units of specialist retirement housing for homeowners have been built³. 

Older people are also the one group where rates of homeownership have risen in recent years.  Homeownership among those aged 65 to 74 increased from 50% in 1981 to 78% in 2012 and among the over 75s it rose from 47% to 73%.  However, for those aged 25 to 34, it has fallen from 62% in 1981 to 43% in 2012 and for 35 to 44 year olds it fell from 69% to 63%⁴.

The Group has two established product ranges - Retirement Living and Assisted Living - which provide one and two bedroom apartments across the country with varying levels of support and care for older homeowners.  In late 2014, McCarthy & Stone launched its Ortus Homes product, which is exclusively for the over 55s and those in the earlier stages of retirement who are seeking to downsize for their leisure years.  McCarthy & Stone is currently selling its first apartments in this new product range across eight locations, helping the Group to capture a wider share of the active retiree market.  The first Ortus Homes development at Scarlet Oak in Solihull won the Best Retirement Scheme at the annual Housebuilder Awards in November 2015.

McCarthy & Stone's commitment to quality and customer service continues to be recognised by homeowners.   In March 2016, the Group received the full Five Star rating for customer satisfaction from the HBF for the eleventh consecutive year - making it the only UK housebuilder, of any size or type, to achieve this accolade.

www.mccarthyandstonegroup.co.uk 

¹ Based on 3,453 registrations of cross-tenure properties specifically designed for the elderly with the NHBC during calendar year 2015, of which 2,672 were registered by McCarthy and Stone

² Demos (September 2013)

³ Independent data provided by Elderly Accommodation Counsel (April 2016) 

⁴ Office for National Statistics - Housing and home ownership in the UK (2015)