5th Sep 2019 10:08
(Alliance News) - Housebuilder Redrow PLC reported record annual profit and revenue on Thursday, in a year it passed the 6,000 home milestone for the first time.
FTSE 250-listed Redrow posted revenue of GBP2.11 billion for the 12 months to June, 10% higher than the year before, helping pretax profit rise 7% to GBP406 million.
Redrow completed 6,443 houses in the year, 13% more than the year before, with affordable home completions up 55%.
Redrow will pay a final dividend of 20.5 pence per share, meaning the year's total has risen 9% to 30.5p. In April, the firm also returned GBP111 million, buying back all 'B' shares.
Executive Chair John Tutte said he was "delighted" with the "excellent trading performance", allowing the firm to reach record financial figures.
This is despite the wider housing market in the UK continuing to be affected by Brexit uncertainty and the high cost of moving house. Residential property moves are currently running "well below" historic levels, Redrow said, and house price inflation remains subdued.
However, market fundamentals remain encouraging, it said, with the new homes market still resilient. Redrow has an order book of GBP1.02 billion, though this is lower year-on-year due to lower volumes and house prices in London.
"Since the start of the new financial year, trading has been encouraging and the demand for our homes is strong with reservations running ahead of last year," said Tutte.
"We are understandably cautious about the post-Brexit future and also the eventual impact of the impending changes to the Help to Buy scheme. We do however have a clear strategy to continue to grow, albeit more modestly, centred on our award winning Heritage Collection that is so popular across a broad range of buyers."
"We entered the new financial year with a strong order book, an excellent balance sheet and a pipeline of new outlets. Notwithstanding the political and economic uncertainty we face, based upon trading over recent weeks, we have every reason to be confident 2020 will be another successful year for the group," he concluded.
Redrow shares were 0.4% higher on Thursday morning at a price of 568.00 pence each.
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