Care home operator Orpea skips dividend as it faces major debt repayments (updated)

Clariane SE

13/05/2022 08:03

(Adds details, share price)
    May 13 (Reuters) - French care home group Orpea  ORP.PA ,
which faces criminal complaints over how it runs its centres and
treats its elderly residents, said on Friday it would not pay a
dividend on 2021 earnings and announced a financing scheme with
its lenders as it faces major debt repayments. 
    The firm said that with access to financial markets being
closed off and and a planned asset disposal programme slowing
down, it had signed an agreement with its banks for a secured
syndicated facility of 1.73 billion euros.
    Orpea saw its net profit plunge to 65.2 million euros in
2021, from 160 million euros a year earlier and its net
financial debt increased by 1.23 billion euros to 7.89 billion
euros end 2021 due to the sustained property development and
acquisition strategy, the company said.
    Its shares opened nearly 2% lower on Friday. 
    Orpea is at the centre of allegations of malpractice, which
it has repeatedly denied, after a book by independent journalist
Victor Castanet revealed claims of severe failings in hygiene
care in a home for elderly people in a wealthy Paris suburb.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2UC12P 
    The French government said in March it planned to file a
criminal complaint against Orpea over allegations.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2VT055
    Orpea is facing major debt repayments, including 850 million
euros maturing in the second half of 2022 and 983 million in
2023. In order to reduce debt, it intends to sell more than 3
billion euros worth of assets by end 2025, it said in an
earnings statement.
    The firm, which operates across 23 countries and is one of
Europe's biggest for-profit care home operators alongside French
rival Korian  KORI.PA , has a real estate portfolio valued at
more than 8 billion euros.

 (Reporting by Diana Mandiá
Editing by GV De Clercq)
 ((diana.mandiaalvarez@thomsonreuters.com))