29th Oct 2015 08:58
LONDON (Alliance News) - Housebuilder and brownfield land developer Inland Homes PLC on Thursday said its pretax profit jumped in the year to the end of June, helped in part by a large revaluation surplus but also by much higher revenue.
Inland's results had been delayed on a few occasions as the company decided whether to consolidate the results of Drayton Garden Village Ltd into the numbers. Inland sold 205 plots at Drayton in June to an unnamed "major housebuilder" for GBP19.0 million.
It eventually decided to do so, and the GBP14.5 million revaluation surplus included in the results related to Drayton Village meant its pretax profit for the year to the end of June multiplied to GBP34.0 million from GBP9.6 million a year earlier.
Revenue for the company also almost doubled to GBP114.2 million from GBP58.9 million, as the group expanded its housebuilding programme over the course of the year sufficiently to increase its private home sales to 248 from 114 a year earlier.
The group's land bank has grown and is now at 5,176 plots, up from 3,734 plots a year earlier.
The strong results prompted the group to lift its total dividend to 1.0 pence per share, up from 0.6p, comprising a 0.3p interim and 0.7p final payout.
Following a lull at the start of the year, house prices in the South East of England, where Inland primarily operates, have increased by 6.7% so far this year and, due to continual undersupply in the areas where Inland focuses and expectations of low interest rates for the foreseeable future, it expects this trend to continue.
"Inland Homes has exceeded market expectations and delivered growth in value for our shareholders," said Chief Executive Stephen Wicks.
"With purchasers' confidence high, supported by the removal of any political uncertainty and continuing strong demand for homes and building land, we have every confidence in delivering further significant progress in the current financial year," he added.
Shares in Inland were up 0.5% to 72.85p on Thursday.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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