28th Jan 2025 12:10
(Alliance News) - Henry Boot PLC on Tuesday said that while it fell short of its 2024 plot sales target, a gradual improvement in the economy contributed to stronger performance in the second half of the year.
The Sheffield, England-based property development firm completed 2,661 residential plot sales in 2024, up 37% from 1,944 in 2023, though below its target of 3,000.
Henry Boot said it expects pretax profit for 2024 to align with market expectations of GBP30.7 million, driven by its focus on high quality land and a better second-half performance.
Chief Executive Officer Tim Roberts said: "Throughout 2024, we saw a gradual improvement in market conditions which translated into a steady increase in demand across our key sectors. This, coupled with our focus on high quality land, prime property development and premium homes means we expect year end profits to be in line with market expectations.
"Looking forward, we have started 2025 with a bit more optimism, albeit while the reduction in interest rates provided a welcome boost to the economy, the trend downwards is now anticipated to be at a slightly slower pace than previously expected.
"The improvements to the planning system we have already seen under the new government also give us confidence, and we therefore intend to ramp up our planning applications, with a further 10,000 plots expected to be made in 2025."
The company said continued to make "good progress" toward its medium-term targets, including its phased acquisition of the remaining 50% stake in premium housebuilder Stonebridge Homes Ltd and the launch of a joint venture with Feldberg Capital GmbH, named Origin, to deliver GBP1 billion in industrial and logistics developments over the next seven years.
Hallam Land, Henry Boot's land promotion division, expanded its landbank to 104,787 plots, up from 100,972 in 2023, and secured planning consents for 2,982 plots during the year.
The division also plans to submit applications for an additional 10,000 plots in 2025.
Henry Boot's development arm, HBD, completed projects with a gross development value of GBP331 million in 2024, doubling from GBP126 million in 2023.
The group reduced its net debt to approximately GBP63 million at the end of 2024, down from GBP103.9 million at the mid-year mark.
Looking ahead, Henry Boot anticipates slower growth in volumes across the group in 2025 but expects profit for the year to remain in line with 2024 levels.
Further investment in the Stonebridge Homes landbank and a rise in planning applications within Hallam Land are expected to push gearing toward the upper end of the company's target range of 10-20% throughout 2025.
Full-year results are scheduled for release on March 25.
Shares in Henry Boot were down 1.6% at 209.50 pence each in London on Tuesday afternoon.
By Eva Castanedo, Alliance News reporter
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