14th Sep 2020 09:32
(Alliance News) - Housebuilder MJ Gleeson PLC on Monday said Covid-19 hurt annual results, though it reported a good start to its new financial year.
Revenue for the year that ended June 30 was down 41% to GBP147.2 million from GBP249.9 million, while pretax profit slumped 86% to GBP5.6 million.
The results reflect Covid-19's hit to the "historically critical" fourth-quarter period, though the company has seen a strong start to the 2021 financial year with a record order book and high levels of demand.
MJ Gleeson said house building volumes were down 30% to 1,072 units in financial 2020 from 1,529 units the year before, with profit margins down to 27.8% from 30.1% due to GBP2.9 million of Covid-19 related costs.
Average selling prices were GBP130,900, up 1.6%, driven by 3.3% higher underlying prices offset by changes in bed and site mix.
No dividend was declared in respect of the recently ended year, compared to 34.5 pence in financial 2019. Gleeson said payouts will resume "as soon as prudent to do so".
Looking ahead, Chair Dermot Gleeson said: "We are currently seeing strong demand and expect this to continue through the year as the demographics of our customer base and the nature and price point of our product helps to insulate us from the impacts of rising unemployment, the end of the stamp duty holiday and the forthcoming changes to the Help to Buy scheme.
"We have therefore re-affirmed our interim target of delivering 2,000 homes per annum in 2022 and will prioritise investment in the business to achieve it."
The company is "cautiously optimistic" of "significant growth" in the current year and beyond, MJ Gleeson added.
MJ Gleeson ended financial 2020 with a cash balance GBP76.8 million versus GBP30.3 million a year ago.
Shares in MJ Gleeson were down 1.1% at 607.42 pence each in London on Monday morning.
By Tapan Panchal; [email protected]
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
MJGleeson