(News Bulletin 247) – On the sidelines of its annual results, Icade has indicated that it is abandoning its plan to list Icade Santé on the stock market, which was put on hold in October 2021. The property company is thinking of other ways to finance the growth of its Health division.

Icade abandons the idea of ​​putting its Health subsidiary on the stock market. The real estate subsidiary of the Caisse des dépôts et consignations is considering other levers to finance the growth of this division.

This will not be done “not necessarily, and I would even say probably not, in the form of an IPO” (initial public offering), its managing director, Olivier Wigniolle, told AFP.

In October 2021, the property company had thrown in the towel “due to volatile market conditions”. In reality, the operation did not meet with the success expected by Icade for its health branch. According to the confidences of a banker to Reuters, the land company would have been obliged to set the price at 115 euros per share, the lower limit of the indicative range going up to 135 euros per share.

Icade Santé is the leader in investment in the walls of clinics and retirement homes in France. Icade was therefore confident, on the strength of particularly solid assets with long-term leases concluded with establishments offering strong financial visibility, and which the group therefore intended to enhance through an IPO.

Burned by this experience, Icade is exploring other means of raising funds. “We can bring in investors on a private basis rather than on a public basis as we had imagined, we can imagine selling part of our stake, we can imagine getting closer to other players in healthcare real estate… “, continued its managing director, whose mandate at the head of Icade comes to an end next spring. The company did not wish to renew Olivier Wigniolle, after eight years at the helm of Icade.

The property company is actively looking for its successor, whose name will be revealed at the latest at the group’s general meeting on April 21, Icade said on the sidelines of its 2022 annual results.

Cash flow above expectations

Last year, its current cash flow – the company’s favorite indicator for establishing its objectives – increased by 7% to 417 million euros. Icade exceeds its own growth expectations for this indicator, it was counting on a 3% increase taking into account the effect of disposals.

Its net current cash flow per share has meanwhile increased by 5.9%, while the company had raised its objectives and expected a rise of 7% last November. However, the increase is higher than the company’s initial forecasts, namely a 4% increase in net current cash flow per share.

This real estate company is present in the tertiary sector (leader in the Greater Paris region and many regional cities), and is a real estate developer present in the housing, office and public facilities segments.

In 2022, the turnover of Icade group share increased by 11.4%, to 1.74 billion euros, supported by the development activity and the rents collected by the health subsidiary. The company increased its dividend offered to its shareholders by 3.1% to 4.33 euros, an increase in the lower range of the announced objective, between 3% and 4% increase for 2022.

For 2023, Icade expects a “stable to slightly positive development” of its group net current cash flow, excluding the effect of disposals. The company also anticipates a change in the dividend in line with that of net current cash flow for 2023.

On the Paris Stock Exchange, Icade is moving up 0.85% to 44.94 euros around 10:15 a.m.