The Ingenia Communities Group (ASX: INA) share price is up 1.24% in early morning trade.
This follows on the company's announcement of a major new acquisition as well as a trading update.
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What did Ingenia report to send its shares higher?
In this morning's ASX release, Ingenia reported it had acquired Merry Beach Caravan Park on the New South Wales South Coast for $20.5 million. The deal is scheduled to settle in March.
The new acquisition adds more than 540 cabins, sites, permanents and annuals to the company's portfolio. Annuals provide approximatey two-thirds of revenue. This increases the size of its holiday offerings by more than 10%.
Around 3.5 hours south of Sydney, Merry Beach Caravan Park has walking tracks, a swimming pool, a playground and direct beach access.
Commenting on the acquisition, Ingenia Communities Group CEO Simon Owen said:
Merry Beach offers a unique opportunity to acquire a beachfront park with significant upside potential. We have identified a number of ways to enhance performance, including upgrades to facilities and improving the accommodation offer and mix. Like Ingenia Holidays Lake Conjola the Park benefits from a stable revenue base from more than 350 annuals.
The prime location provides easy access to the beach and beauty of the Murramarang National Park. We know the South Coast market well and are excited to add Merry Beach to our established cluster.
Noting that Ingenia is closing monitoring the evolving situation with New South Wales new COVID outbreak, Owen added:
Combined with the acquisition of BIG4 Inverloch Holiday Park and the mixed-use Middle Rock Holiday Parka and Village, we have announced close to $74 million of acquisition this month and are continuing to work through the due diligence for a number of potential acquisitions, including a large lifestyle community.
Ingenia Communities Group share price and company snapshot
Ingenia owns, operates and develops a portfolio of lifestyle and holiday communities (Ingenia Lifestyle and Holidays) and rental communities (Ingenia Gardens). The company's assets are located throughout Australia, primarily in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. Ingenia pays a 2.0% dividend yield, unfranked.
Like most every ASX 200 share involved in the tourism business, Ingenia's share price was hit hard during the COVID market panic. Shares fell 46% from 5 March through to 23 March.
Since that low the Ingenia share price has soared 75%. Year-to-date shares are down 1.4%. That compares to a 0.5% loss on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) at time of writing.
