9th Sep 2015 06:12
LONDON (Alliance News) - Housebuilder Barratt Developments PLC on Wednesday said its pretax profit, revenue and house sales were all higher in the year to the end of June, prompting the company to return substantially more money to shareholders, including a special dividend.
In addition to the strong results Barratt said trading in its current financial year has continued the positive momentum, with net private reservations per week up 15% year-on-year and the group's forward sales book at September 6 32% higher than a year before.
The FTSE 100-listed company said its pretax profit for the year to the end of June was GBP565.5 million, up 45% from the GBP390.6 million it made a year earlier. Revenue was up to GBP3.76 billion from GBP3.16 billion as the group's total completions in the year rose to 16,447, up 11% from the 14,838 homes it sold a year earlier.
In addition to selling more homes, the company said the average selling price for those homes was up by 8.7% in the year to GBP262,500, driven by positive mix changes and by house price inflation.
On the back of the strong results, the company said it will pay a 10.0 pence per share special dividend. In addition to a total ordinary dividend payout of 15.1p, up from 10.3p a year earlier, the total payout to shareholders will be 25.1 pence per share, more than double the 10.3 pence it paid the year before and meaning its total capital return for the year is GBP250.0 million, up from GBP102.0 million.
"The strong operational and financial performance in 2015 reinforces the progress we have made over the past few years. Alongside our industry leading management team, I will continue to execute on our current strategy and focus on driving further efficiencies across the business," said David Thomas, Barratt's chief executive.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Barratt Developments