What happened
Shares of Medical Properties Trust (MPW -0.22%) were jumping 4.5% higher as of 10:43 a.m. ET on Wednesday and rose as much as 7.8% earlier in the morning. The gain came on the news that the company was selling 11 hospitals in Australia to HMC Capital for $1.2 billion. It also helped that the overall market was rising, as investors appeared to bet that the worst of the banking crisis was over.
So what
Analysts asked Medical Properties Trust's CFO Steven Hamner in the fourth-quarter conference call if the healthcare REIT, or real estate investment trust, planned to sell its Australian properties. Hamner basically sidestepped the question at the time. However, he said that Medical Properties Trust has "never acknowledged the Australian sale process, we don't deny it."
The context of the analyst's question helps explain why investors are reacting so positively to the Australian deal. The question was posed as part of a broader inquiry about Medical Properties Trust's efforts to boost its cash flow and reduce leverage. An additional $1.2 billion in the company's coffers should help significantly on both fronts.
Medical Properties Trust reported net debt totaling nearly $10.3 billion as of Dec. 31, 2022. With higher interest rates, refinancing this debt over the coming years could be more expensive.
Now what
The main challenge for Medical Properties Trust in the near term is that one of its top tenants, Prospect Medical, isn't able to pay all of its rent. The healthcare REIT expects to fully recover all of its investment in Prospect over time. However, the deferred rent from Prospect could reduce Medical Properties Trust's funds from operations this year.
