Four Seasons considers selling off care homes

[chenrezig]

Four Seasons considers selling off care homes amid 'cash crunch'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... runch.html

The UK's largest care home provider is considering selling scores of its properties as it plans to trim its budget.

Four Seasons Health Care is believed to be evaluating around 30 sites amid attempts to shore up its defences as a US hedge fund buys up large amounts of the British company's debt, according to reports.

H/2 Capital Partners, which manages total assets of $11bn (£7.3bn), is hoping Four Seasons will be forced to cede control of some of its homes if its financial situation deteriorates, the Independent claimed.

Four Seasons, which runs 470 sites containing more than 20,000 beds will be hit by the new national living wage, according to ratings agency Standard & Poor's. S&P said the company could run out of money next year as the higher wages it will be forced to pay combine with the Government's austerity measures.

In a letter to George Osborne earlier this year, Four Seasons joined Bupa UK, HC-One, Care UK and Barchester in warning the extra costs would mean "thousands of older people could be left without a home".

Four Seasons Health Care has seen a 5pc reduction in fees over the past five years and is disposing of non-core properties that do not fit its long term strategy.

George Osborne's national living wage is expected to hit care homes hard

It announced during investor calls earlier this year that 23 properties have been identified as being available for disposal during this year.

Four Seasons reported in August how nine of these had been sold, for a total of £4m, with remaining properties due to be sold during the year. The company offloaded 20 sites last year.

The uncertainty facing frail elderly residents and their families has been compared to the crisis in 2011 when Southern Cross collapsed after running of out of money to pay rent on its 750 homes.

Four Seasons declined to comment on the potential disposals or H/2 Capital Partners' actions.

S&P claimed Four Seasons could run out of money next year

Earlier this week it said it is "confident we have financial flexibility well beyond S&P's projections".

"We said in August that the group has sufficient medium-term financial flexibility and that remains our position. We also announced in November the appointment of advisers to help us improve that flexibility.

"We are confident that the benefits of the operational improvements we have put in place will flow through to financial improvements.

"We cannot envisage any scenario that would have any effect of the quality of care for residents in our homes or patients in our specialist care units."

H/2 Capital Partners did not return calls for comment.

[Honey]

tha22222

[annie]

I fear for the residents

[maureenho]

[wendy]

This is terrible news

[JaneJ]

tha22222