9th Jul 2015 06:17
LONDON (Alliance News) - FTSE 100-listed housebuilder Barratt Developments PLC on Thursday said it expects to post a 45% rise in annual profit for the year to the end of June as it sold more houses at higher prices over the period.
Barratt said it expects total completions for the year to the end of June to be up by 11% to 16,447 units from 14,838 a year earlier, on the back of strong consumer demand and increased site numbers.
It added its private average selling price in the year increased by 8% to GBP262,000 from GBP241,600 a year earlier, helped by changes in its sales mix and underlying house price inflation.
As a result, the group expects pretax profit for the year to the end of June to rise by 45% to GBP565 million from GBP390.6 million, and it expects its return on capital employed to improve by 430 basis points to 23.8% from 19.5%.
"The housing market has remained strong and our operating performance has been very good. Over the last 12 months we have opened 176 new developments, increased our housing completions by 11% and committed GBP1 billion of land investment for future housing. We start the new financial year with very strong forward sales and are well on the way to meeting our 2017 targets of a 20% gross margin and at least 25% return on capital," said Chief Executive David Thomas.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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