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Lenders and investors alike have become progressively concerned
about climate change and the effect their lending and investment
decisions may have on the environment. As such, they are seeking
ways to reduce their carbon footprint to achieve environmentally
beneficial outcomes while also meeting their investment objectives
and financial returns.
To meet these concerns, green loans were introduced. A green
loan is defined as “any type of loan instrument made available
exclusively to finance or re-finance, in whole in part, new and/or
existing eligible Green Projects.” This includes term loans,
revolving credit facilities and working capital facilities.
Green Loan Guidelines
With the growth of this loan product, it was necessary to
establish guidelines specific to the green loan to ensure
consistency across the wholesale green loan market. In March 2018,
the Loan Market Association (LMA), together with the Asia Pacific
Loan Market Association (APLMA) and the Loan Syndications and
Trading Association (LSTA), published the Green Loan
Principles (GLP) and Guidance on Green Loan
Principles (GLP Guidance). An updated version of the GLP and
the GLP Guidance were published in February 2021.
The GLP set out a framework of market standards and voluntary
recommended guidelines to be applied by participants on a
deal-by-deal basis that classifies the instances in which a loan
may be categorized as “green.” To qualify as a green
loan, the loan must comply with the following four components of
the GLP: 1) use of proceeds, 2) process for project evaluation and
selection, 3) management of proceeds and 4) reporting. This also
includes applying the loan’s proceeds to an eligible green
project such as, but not limited to:
- green buildings that meet regional, national or internationally
recognized standards or certifications - renewable energy, including production, transmission,
appliances and products - pollution prevention and control, including reduction of air
emissions, greenhouse gas control, soil remediation, waste
prevention, waste reduction and waste recycling - environmentally sustainable management of living natural
resources and land use, and - climate change adaptation, including information support
systems such as climate observation and early warning systems
It is important to note that a green loan may only be marketed
or labeled as such if it complies with the GLP. The GLP provides
that “[g]reen loans should not be considered interchangeable
with loans that are not aligned with the four core components of
the GLP.” A loan party must indicate that the loan complies
with the GLP; the fact that the loan is being used to finance an
environmentally friendly project does not make it a green loan.
Summary of the Four Core Components
- Use of Proceeds. The fundamental basis of a
green loan is the utilization of the loan proceeds, which must be
generally applied to an environmentally friendly purpose. All green
projects should provide environmental benefits that will be
assessed and, where feasible, quantified, measured and reported by
the borrower. The proceeds of a green loan may be used to finance a
new green project or refinance existing debt on a green
project. - Process for Project Evaluation and Selection.
In order for lenders to understand and assess the environmental
attributes of a green loan, the borrower should clearly communicate
1) its environmental sustainability objectives, 2) the process by
which the borrower determines how its project fits within an
eligible green project and 3) the eligibility criteria it uses to
identify and manage potentially material environmental and social
risks associated with the proposed project. - Management of Proceeds. The proceeds of a
green loan should be credited to a dedicated account or tracked by
the borrower in a way that maintains transparency and promotes the
integrity of the loan product. In the case where a green loan takes
the form of one or more tranches of a loan facility, each green
tranche must be clearly designated, with proceeds of the green
tranche credited to a separate account or tracked in the
appropriate manner by the borrower. - Reporting. The borrower should prepare a
report and keep it updated with information on the use of proceeds
to be renewed annually until fully drawn and as necessary
thereafter in the event of material developments. The report should
include a list of green projects to which the green loan proceeds
were allocated, a brief description of each project, the amounts
allocated to each project and the expected impact of each
project.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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FNMA,
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The demand-and-supply characteristics are there for a recovery if interest rates come down.
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Duncan: It’s gonna come from home builders, until boomers age to a level where they’re forced to give up their home.
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This interview has been edited and condensed for style and clarity.
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The New York investment firm reported net income of $557.9m, or 75 cents a share, compared with a profit of $1.4bn, or $1.92 a share, during the same period a year earlier.
A drop in the value of Blackstone’s real estate investments contributed to the profit decline. Valuations fell by 2% and 1.5% from the previous quarter for its two main strategies.
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Breit, Blackstone’s nontraded real-estate investment trust aimed at individual investors, posted a return of 8.4% in 2022. Yet the vehicle experienced an uptick in requests from investors to sell shares in the fourth quarter. That caused Blackstone to limit redemptions and led to a big drop in its stock. The shares have since recovered much of that ground.
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Write to Miriam Gottfried at Miriam.Gottfried@wsj.com
This article was published by The Wall Street Journal, a fellow Dow Jones Group brand
Key Points
- Recently proposed regulations would significantly curtail the
ability for private fund sponsors and non-U.S. investors to use a
so-called D-REIT to facilitate a tax-efficient exit from U.S. real
property investments, by no longer permitting the use of certain
foreign-owned U.S. “blocker” corporations to achieve
“domestic control.” - The rules would also make clear that ownership of a REIT by a
QFPF does not count towards the domestic control requirement for
D-REIT status. - Fund sponsors and their investors should carefully evaluate the
impact of these rules on any pre-existing or new investment and
transaction structures, as well as any associated contractual
exposure. Additional tax mitigation strategies may be warranted,
particularly in light of an effective date rule that apparently
grants the IRS authority to challenge positions contrary to the
proposed regulations, irrespective of when such positions were
entered into. - Aside from the specifically targeted structure, we generally
expect that the proposed regulations should have a limited impact
on investment funds’ use of REITs, which should continue to
offer significant tax benefits to U.S. investors (including U.S.
tax-exempts), non-U.S. sovereigns, pension funds and other
investors.
Newly proposed Treasury Regulations target a structure
commonly used by non-U.S. investors in U.S. real estate asset
platforms to obtain an exemption from U.S. tax upon an exit from
real estate investment trust (REIT) shares. In such platforms, a
fund sponsor or non-U.S. investor may interpose a U.S.
“blocker” corporation between a portion of the non-U.S.
investor’s investment and the REIT to achieve the requisite
level of U.S. ownership for a “domestically controlled”
REIT (D-REIT) status. To the extent non-U.S. investors sell shares
in a D-REIT, no U.S. federal income taxation applies absent unusual
circumstances. The proposed rules, however, would no longer permit
taking the position that any such interposed corporation with
material non-U.S. ownership counts as “good” ownership
for D-REIT status. The proposal includes an effective date rule
that grants the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) apparent
authority to challenge positions even where such positions relate
to transactions entered into prior to the time when the proposed
regulations are finalized (and, apparently, also to transactions
entered into prior to the issuance of the proposed regulations).
Additional changes are proposed confirming the treatment of a
“qualified foreign pension fund” (QFPF) investors and
their subsidiaries.1
Importance of the D-REIT Exception for Non-U.S. Investors
Under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980
(FIRPTA), non-U.S. investors are generally required to pay U.S. tax
and file U.S. tax returns upon a disposition of a U.S. real
property interest, which includes an investment in stock issued by
a U.S. corporation or a U.S. REIT with material U.S. real
property-related assets (i.e., a U.S. real property holding
corporation (USRPHC)). FIRPTA deems any associated
gain or loss to be connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or
business, irrespective of whether the non-U.S. investor is actually
engaged in such a trade or business. Accordingly, U.S. real
property investments generally give rise to tax payment and filing
requirements upon exit that non-U.S. investors frequently seek to
mitigate.
Certain statutory exemptions can reduce or eliminate FIRPTA tax.
In particular, QFPFs and entities all of the interests in which are
held by QFPFs (i.e., qualified controlled entities) benefit from a
broad exemption from FIRPTA. U.S. tax treaties generally do not
provide exemptions in this regard.
Non-U.S. investors who cannot claim an exemption from FIRPTA in
their own right often make investments in U.S. real property assets
through a D-REIT. The FIRPTA exemption for D-REITs allows such
non-U.S. investors to exit any REIT stock that they hold directly
or through a flow-through in a tax-free manner, provided that less
than 50 percent in value of the REIT stock is held “directly
or indirectly” by “foreign persons” at all times in
the five-year period preceding the exit. As the FIRPTA tax can be
significant, and the associated U.S. filing obligations even more
so, the availability of the D-REIT exemption is often a material
factor in a non-U.S. investor’s investment underwriting, and
the D-REIT exemption is commonly employed by private fund sponsors
and their non-U.S. investors in structuring U.S. real estate
investments.
The statute, however, does not provide guidance on the meaning
of “indirect” foreign ownership for purposes of testing
whether a REIT meets the “domestically controlled”
threshold. Private Letter Ruling 200923001 (the
“Ruling”), the only existing guidance from the IRS on the
topic prior to the proposed regulations, concluded that a REIT held
by two U.S. corporations was “domestically controlled,”
even though the corporations were indirectly owned by foreign
persons.2 The IRS reasoned that the U.S.
C-corporations were considered the “actual owners” of the
REIT stock for purposes of testing “domestically
controlled” status since they were fully taxable on any
distributions from the REIT.3 Crucially, the Ruling did not
require taxpayers to “look through” fully taxable U.S.
C-corporations. The legislative history of the Protecting Americans
from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (PATH Act) appeared to cite with
approval the Ruling’s conclusion in this regard.
New Look-Through Rule for Purposes of Determining Domestic
Control
On December 29, 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS
published newly proposed regulations that would modify the scope of
the D-REIT exemption in a manner that would make it substantially
more difficult for non-U.S. investors to rely on.
In particular, in determining whether a REIT is a D-REIT, the
proposed regulations would require taxpayers to take into account
REIT stock that is held indirectly by foreign persons through a
“look-through person,” but not stock that is held through
a “non-look-through person.”4 A look-through
person includes, among others, REITs, regulated investment
companies (RICs) and non-publicly traded partnerships (both
domestic and foreign). More significantly to many existing D-REIT
structures, a domestic C-corporation would also be a look-through
person if foreign persons own, directly or indirectly, 25 percent
or more of the entity’s outstanding stock by fair market value
(referred to as a “foreign-owned domestic
corporation”).
This proposed rule represents a material departure from the
Ruling and prior practice in requiring taxpayers to
“count” the non-U.S. ownership of certain U.S.
corporations in evaluating whether a REIT qualifies as a D-REIT.
This would generally limit non-U.S. investors’ ability to
structure into D-REIT status by making a portion of their
investment in a REIT through a U.S. blocker corporation. Note that
the proposed regulations only require looking through the actual
chain of ownership. The rules do not appear to provide for any
attribution or constructive ownership rules.
Although publicly traded REITs are also look-though persons,
special, more forgiving look-through rules would apply to such
REITs in order to ease administrative and compliance difficulties
that could otherwise result from applying the general look-through
principles to publicly traded entities.
Treatment of QFPFs as Foreign Persons for Determining D-REIT
Status
The proposed regulations also clarify that QFPFs and entities
all of the interests in which are held by QFPFs (i.e., qualified
controlled entities) are treated as “foreign persons” for
purposes of applying the domestic control requirement for D-REIT
status. This is a departure from the general treatment of such
non-U.S. investors as “domestic persons” when directly
claiming exemption from FIRPTA.
Applicability Dates
While the proposed regulations generally are not binding on
taxpayers or the IRS until they are finalized, the preamble to the
proposed regulations cautions taxpayers that the IRS may challenge
positions contrary to the proposed regulations (apparently
including positions taken prior to the issuance of the proposed
regulations), even before the issuance of final regulations.
Nonetheless, we believe there are substantial arguments that the
typical D-REIT structure targeted by the proposed regulations is
supported by current law.
Further, D-REIT status generally becomes relevant at the time of
a sale transaction—not when the REIT is formed—but a
look-back rule ordinarily requires the REIT to have been
domestically controlled for the entirety of the five-year period
prior to the sale transaction. Thus, even though the proposed
regulations generally are only proposed to apply to exit
transactions occurring after they are finalized (subject to the
IRS’s apparent authority to challenge prior transactions),
domestically controlled status with respect to transactions that
occur post-finalization will still need to be tested by looking at
the entire look-back period, which may include pre-finalization
years.
Action Items for Sponsors and Investors
Real estate sponsors and investors should consider:
- Carefully reviewing any D-REIT structures that used U.S.
C-corporations or relied on the presence of U.S. C-corporations
with significant foreign owners to achieve D-REIT status in order
to determine the impact of the proposed regulations. - Reviewing their structure charts, side letters, REIT
organizational documents and other fund documentation to understand
the scope of their contractual undertakings to investors regarding
D-REIT status of any fund entity or portfolio investment, and any
associated efforts standards. - Updating investor subscription documents to include new
representations or information relating to indirect ownership that
should be requested from investors. - For new investments, opportunities to mitigate the impact of
the proposed regulations taking into account investor composition
and other relevant factors.
Opportunities for Taxpayer Comments on the Proposed
Regulations
The Treasury Department is soliciting comments from the public
through the end of February 2023, including on the definition of
“look-through person” and “non-look-through
person.” Note that the preamble to the proposed regulations
specifically states that the Treasury Department and the IRS
considered and apparently rejected an alternative rule that would
have treated all U.S. C-corporations as non-look-through persons in
accordance with the Ruling.
We anticipate that taxpayers will submit comments requesting the
Treasury Department to reconsider this alternative rule, and also
to seek further clarity on existing structures that the IRS
apparently believes it has the authority to challenge under current
law.
Final QFPF Regulations
Separate from the proposed regulations, on December 29, 2022,
the Treasury Department and the IRS issued final regulations clarifying the scope of the
QFPF exemption. The final regulations are generally consistent with
prior 2019 proposed regulations, but further broaden the QFPF
exemption and specify the form of certificate that QFPFs must
provide in order to certify their QFPF status to
counterparties.
The final regulations also clarify that a non-economic interest
held by a non-QFPF that is not respected as an interest under
general U.S. tax principles does not cause a “qualified
controlled entity” to lose its status as such. This
clarification will be particularly helpful for fund sponsors that
seek to offer a non-U.S. “blocker” corporation solution
to their QFPF investors without seeking to offload the governance
of the blocker on the investor. Existing dedicated feeder fund
entities may therefore be directly eligible for FIRPTA
exemption.
Foreign pension funds that did not satisfy the QFPF requirements
previously may wish to reexamine their eligibility for the QFPF
exemption under the criteria of the final regulations, as well as
the eligibility of any dedicated fund vehicles of external sponsors
in which they are invested. In addition, QFPFs and fund sponsors
should consider reviewing existing QFPF certifications to ensure
compliance with the requirements under the final regulations.
Footnotes
1 Separate proposed regulations
also provide relief to certain non-U.S. sovereign investors who
wish to make U.S. real property investments while preserving their
exemption from U.S. tax under Section 892 of the Internal Revenue
Code.
2 A private letter ruling is a
response from the IRS to a written request from a particular
taxpayer and generally cannot be relied upon as binding guidance by
other taxpayers.
3 The Ruling refers to Regulations
Section 1.897-1(c)(2)(i), which provides that “the actual
owners of stock, as determined under Section 1.857-8, must be taken
into account.” Regulations Section 1.857-8(b) provides that
the “actual owner” of stock of a REIT is the person who
is required to include in gross income any dividends received on
the stock. The proposed regulations do not retain the reference to
Regulations Section 1.857-8 in Regulations Section
1.897-1(c)(2)(i).
4 A “non-look-through
person” includes, among others, publicly traded U.S.
C-corporations, publicly traded partnerships (both domestic and
foreign), foreign corporations, QFPFs and individuals. A
non-look-through person also includes a U.S. C-corporation if less
than 25 percent of the fair market value of its outstanding stock
is owned, directly or indirectly, by foreign persons.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
Dear MarketWatch,
I’m from New Jersey. My daughter and I are looking to invest in a multi-family unit for our family. I’m retired and live in a luxury apartment paying $2,000 a month for rent, soon to increase to $2,200.
My daughter is a homeowner and her property currently has $75,000 to $100,000 in equity.
We would like to know if it would make sense for my daughter to sell her home (she would make at least $75,000 at the rates homes are selling in her area), and we move together into a rental home for $3,300 a month, and plan to wait a year for the housing prices to go down before purchasing a multi-family?
Thank you.
Timing the market
‘The Big Move’ is a MarketWatch column looking at the ins and outs of real estate, from navigating the search for a new home to applying for a mortgage.
Do you have a question about buying or selling a home? Do you want to know where your next move should be? Email Aarthi Swaminathan at TheBigMove@marketwatch.com.
Dear Timing,
Given the headwinds in the housing market right now, I’d say, go for it: Sell now, and slowly start looking for a home to buy.
As a buyer, the environment isn’t great. The number of homes for sale is low, as homeowners are locked in to ultra-low mortgage rates. They’re not going to give that up easily, so you have few options. That will also keep prices relatively high in New Jersey.
Plus, mortgage rates are still above 6% still, which means you’re gonna have to budget for higher monthly payments.
Interest rates may fall this year. “I think 2023 will be a year of volatility. The economy is already performing better than many expected, which is giving the Fed less of an incentive to cut rates,” Mohannad Aama, a portfolio manager at Beam Capital, recently told MarketWatch.
But as a seller, this same environment presents a great opportunity.
“We have an extreme lack of inventory that is causing the market to favor sellers at almost every price point,” Melissa Rubenstein, a Realtor for Christie’s Real Estate New Jersey, told MarketWatch.
“‘We have an extreme lack of inventory that is causing the market to favor sellers at almost every price point.’”
But do adjust your expectations. The house may not fetch the price you both have in mind. According to one study by Wharton, some homeowners list their home prices higher than the market rate. As a result, homes stay on the market longer and, as the Wharton report notes, listing a house at above the market rate creates a “psychological dependence on the original purchase price [and] generates an aversion to losses that is 2.5 times larger than the prospect of gains.”
Timing the sale before the spring may work out for you. Spring is generally the start of the home-shopping season.
“I would take advantage of that situation and get the most money possible for your daughter’s home before any rush of inventory in the spring,” Rubenstein added.
So yes, it may make sense to move ASAP on selling the home. But wait before you buy, either for rates or prices to drop, or inventory to rise.
Plus, homeowners are starting to turn to the rental market for cash flow, so you may actually get a discount on rents too, in New Jersey.
But be warned: There are no guarantees when trying to time the market.
By emailing your questions, you agree to having them published anonymously on MarketWatch. By submitting your story to Dow Jones & Company, the publisher of MarketWatch, you understand and agree that we may use your story, or versions of it, in all media and platforms, including via third parties.
Credit researchers at Goldman Sachs now expect home prices in several “overheated” metro areas to fall over 25% from peak levels.
Metro areas included in their forecast were San Jose, Austin, Phoenix and San Diego, according to a new home-price outlook from a Goldman research team led by Lotfi Karoui.
Some of the markets at risk for the biggest price drops this year (see chart) already saw at least a 10% depreciation in home price growth, according to the Goldman team.
Austin, San Francisco, San Diego and Phoenix to see biggest home price declines in 2023.
Zillow, Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research
While sharp price drops could present “localized risk of higher delinquencies for mortgages originated in 2022 or late 2021,” declines aren’t expected to be as big of a threat everywhere.
Nationally, the Goldman team expects home prices to fall by roughly 10% this year from June 2022 levels, following their roughly 4% estimated decline in the second half of last year.
“This decline should be small enough to avoid broad mortgage-credit stress, with a sharp increase in foreclosures nationwide seeming unlikely,” the team wrote.
U.S. real-estate activity has fallen off a cliff since the Federal Reserve began jacking up rates in March to tame high inflation. Home prices, however, also rose 40% since March 2020, according to Deutsche Bank.
The new Goldman home-price forecast hinged on an expectation that interest rates will remain elevated for longer. The team said their year-end forecast for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was revised higher by 30 basis points to 6.5%, but they expect it to retreat to 6.15% in 2024.
“This path would cause affordability to worsen incrementally, after a slight improvement over the past two months,” the team said, with home prices likely to shift to a 1% appreciation in 2024 if the U.S. economy avoids a recession.
U.S. stocks rose for a second straight session Wednesday, a day before an update on consumer inflation is expected to show a monthly decline in the annual rate to 6.5% from a 9.1% peak this summer. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
gained 0.8% Wednesday, the S&P 500 index
SPX,
rose 1.3% and the Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
advanced 1.8%.
Read: Why Thursday’s U.S. CPI report might kill stock market’s hope of inflation melting away
ATLANTA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan 10, 2023–
Stonehill’s commercial real estate group, Stonehill CRE, has provided approximately $160 million in acquisition financing for five malls representing more than 4.5 million square feet of retail space across the U.S.
“Despite the continued market volatility and capital market trends, our CRE team was able to deliver lending and capital markets solutions that match our sponsors’ business objectives and priorities,” said Daniel Siegel, president of Stonehill CRE.
The recent Stonehill CRE retail transactions include:
- Bellis Fair Mall – Originating a $24.0 million first mortgage loan for the 774,264 square-foot shopping mall in Bellingham, Washington.
- Cumberland Mall – Originating a $28.8 million first mortgage loan for the 953,313 square-foot shopping mall in Vineland, New Jersey.
- Greenwood Mall – Originating a $42.3 million first mortgage loan for the 970,523 square-foot shopping mall in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
- Livingston Mall – Originating a $42.0 million first mortgage loan for the 970,000 square-foot shopping mall in Livingston, New Jersey.
- The Mall at Robinson – Originating a $25.5 million first mortgage loan for the 874,000 square-foot shopping mall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“Brick-and-mortar is still a necessary component of a retailer’s multi-channel strategy,” said Siegel. “According the National Retail Federation, traditional in-store purchases still accounted for the majority of retail holiday spending.”
“To remain competitive, owners must accelerate their plans and expand their thinking to find ways to keep their malls relevant in a changing landscape. Stonehill CRE provides needed liquidity for maturing loans, new acquisitions and construction projects,” said Greg Koenig, Stonehill CRE’s senior vice president.
Stonehill, an affiliate of Peachtree Group, launched Stonehill CRE in May 2022 and expects to deploy approximately $500 million of capital in 2023.
About Stonehill
Stonehill, a direct lender, is actively providing permanent loans, bridge loans, mezzanine loans and preferred equity investments secured primarily by hotel assets. Founded in 2013, Stonehill provides creative finance solutions for acquisitions, recapitalizations, refinancings and renovations and has completed more than 400 transactions totaling over $4.5 billion. The principals of Stonehill have combined to originate, structure or purchase over $10.0 billion of debt. For additional information, please visit www.stonehillsc.com.
About Peachtree Group
Peachtree is a private equity investment, asset and fund management firm focusing on opportunistically deploying capital across its distinct operating and real estate divisions, including hospitality, commercial real estate lending, residential development, capital markets and media. Since its founding in 2008, the company has completed hundreds of real estate investments valued at more than $8.1 billion in total market capitalization and currently has more than $2.1 billion in equity under management. For more information, visit www.peachtreegroup.com.
View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230110005218/en/
CONTACT: Charles Talbert
678-823-7683
ctalbert@peachtreehotelgroup.com
KEYWORD: GEORGIA UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: PROFESSIONAL SERVICES OTHER CONSTRUCTION & PROPERTY COMMERCIAL BUILDING & REAL ESTATE FINANCE CONSTRUCTION & PROPERTY REIT
SOURCE: Stonehill
Copyright Business Wire 2023.
PUB: 01/10/2023 08:55 AM/DISC: 01/10/2023 08:55 AM
Copyright Business Wire 2023.
By Joe Hoppe
Braveheart Investment Group PLC shares fell Tuesday after it said that portfolio company Phasefocus Holdings Ltd.’s 2022 sales were lower than forecast.
Shares at 0816 GMT were down 1.75 pence, or 18% at 7.75 pence.
The London-listed investment company–which holds 44.69% of Phasefocus–said that since its interim results in October, Phasefocus has increased its stock holding of critical components to provide customers with shorter lead times. However, due to the loss of Cytena as lead distributor, sales in 2022 missed forecasts.
Phasefocus is now marketing and selling in the E.U. and U.S. directly and has already developed a promising pipeline of sales, Braveheart said. The company said it remains optimistic about Phasefocus’s future prospects and intends to participate in a proposed further funding round of 300,000 pounds ($365,550).
Braveheart also said that wholly-owned portfolio company Paraytec Ltd.’s clinical study to develop rapid tests continues to recruit participants, running alongside the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals National Health Service Foundation Trust existing drive-through coronavirus test service. However, the program has recently experienced further delays due to a shortage of available NHS staff to collect additional swab specimens for analysis, and initial test results are now expected in February.
“The commercial justification for the second phase, a longitudinal study, will then be determined after consideration of the prevailing coronavirus test market,” Braveheart said.
Write to Joe Hoppe at joseph.hoppe@wsj.com
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