10th Jul 2019 07:58
(Alliance News) - Barratt Developments PLC on Wednesday said its annual profit is expected to come in ahead of market forecasts, helped by an improved margin and an increased number of completions.
The residential property development company said it has completed 17,856 homes, including joint ventures, during the financial year that ended on June 30, up 2.6% from 17,579 homes completed the year before.
During the recent year, Barratt opened 163 new outlets, including joint ventures, and operated from an average of 379 active outlets. Barratt's total average selling price for the year was GBP274,000, lower that GBP288,900 reported a year earlier.
The FTSE 100-listed company said it expects its annual pretax profit to come in ahead of market expectations, at about GBP910 million compared to GBP835.5 million reported for financial 2018. The improvement was driven by continued strong progress from margin initiatives, a strong close to the year, and additional contribution from joint ventures, Barratt said.
Operating margin at the end of the year stood at 18.9% versus 17.7% a year prior, with underlying margin improvement of around 70 basis points, driven mainly by the company's margin initiatives, it asserted.
Looking ahead, Barratt said its forward sales position is strong, with total forward sales, including joint ventures, as at June 30 at GBP2.60 billion, up from GBP2.18 billion on the same date last year.
Barratt said it remains focused on driving further margin improvement and delivering its medium-term targets of volume growth of between 3% to 5%.
"It has been another very good year for the group both operationally and financially," said Chief Executive David Thomas.
"We begin the new financial year with a strong forward order book and cash position, continued focus on the delivery of operational improvements across our business, and an ongoing commitment to deliver the highest quality homes across the country," added Thomas.
The company will publish its full-year results on September 4.
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