5th Jul 2018 09:29
LONDON (Alliance News) - Bovis Homes Group PLC said Thursday its home completions in the first half of the year were slightly ahead of expectations and believes it is in a "strong position" to meet full year expectations.
The FTSE 250-listed home builder increased its number of completions in the six months ended June by 4% to 1,580 homes from 1,512 the year before - 1,030 of which were private, 550 affordable.
This represents a higher percentage of affordable homes than in the first half last year, which Bovis Homes attributed to a "planned build programme across its developments". It expects its full year proportion "to be similar" to 2017.
Bovis Homes' average selling price for private homes during the period was largely flat at GBP335,000 from GBP334,700. Its total average selling price was down to GBP261,000 from GBP277,400. The home builder said this reflected the "higher contribution from affordable content in the period".
Bovis Homes' sales rate in the first half increased 8% to 0.52 net private reservation per site per week, up from 0.48 last year.
The company "continues to have very good visibility" in its land supply with 98% of units for 2019 secured, of which 92% have detailed planning in place.
At the end of the period, Bovis held net cash of about GBP40 million, up from a net debt position of GBP32.45 million at the end of the financial year 2017 first half. The company "remains on track" to deliver a total of at least GBP180 million of additional cash from its balance sheet optimisation programme.
With "robust" housing market fundamentals, the company said it is making "clear progress" towards its medium term targets of 23.5% gross margins and 25% return on capital employed.
Chief Executive Officer Greg Fitzgerald said: "We expect to deliver a significant step up in profitability for the half year as we start to see the financial benefits from the strategic direction, changes implemented, and specific margin initiatives launched over the past 18 months. In addition, we have delivered another disciplined and orderly period end with our customer satisfaction score continuing to trend at well above 80%."
Shares in Bovis Homes were up 0.7% Thursday at 1,129.50 pence each.
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