28th Sep 2015 06:57
LONDON (Alliance News) - Regeneration and strategic land company MJ Gleeson PLC on Monday said its pretax profit and revenue both rose in the year to the end of June, boosted by land sales and a robust housing market, and said it will raise its dividend as its current financial year looks set to push towards the upper end of expectations.
The company said its pretax profit for the year to June 30 was GBP17.3 million, up from GBP12.2 million a year earlier. The company had flagged that it expected profit to rise in the weeks leading up to the release of its results, having completed a number of strategic land sales over the course of the year and sold more homes in its housebuilding arm.
Revenue for the group rose to GBP117.6 million from GBP81.4 million, as it sold 751 units in its Gleeson Homes business, up from 561 units a year earlier, and the average selling price of those units rose to GBP123,750 from GBP121,500. The land pipeline for the homes business strengthened substantially in the year, up to 7,496 plots from 5,065 plots.
In its strategic land unit, operating profit nearly doubled, up to GBP8.1 million from GBP4.8 million, as it completed three land sales in the year and acquired eight more for its portfolio.
The company will pay a final dividend of 7.3 pence per share, a big hike on the 4.9p it paid out a year earlier, bringing its total dividend for the year up to 10.0p from 6.0p, a 67% rise.
"Our twin track strategy - the development of low-cost homes for open market sale in the North of England and strategic land sales in the South - continues to deliver excellent results, which provide strong grounds for optimism concerning the group's future prospects," said Dermot Gleeson, the company's chairman.
"Following a robust start to the year, the board believes the group has scope to deliver results for the full year towards the upper end of expectations," he added.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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