14th Jul 2021 09:11
(Alliance News) - Barratt Developments PLC raised its annual profit guidance on Wednesday after reporting rising completions and reservations driven by strong demand across the UK.
The housebuilder said it expects pretax profit, after adjusted items of GBP107 million, to be at the top end of the range of market forecasts.
In the financial year that ended June 30, Barratt's net private reservations per active outlet a week were 0.78, up from 0.60 in financial 2020 and 0.70 in financial 2019.
Completion volumes continued to tick up and were ahead of guidance, with 17,243 total homes completed in the recent financial year versus 12,604 homes in financial 2020 and 17,856 homes in financial 2019.
"We have seen continued strong demand for our high quality, energy efficient homes on well-designed developments, enabling us to deliver 17,243 home completions this year," commented David Thomas, chief executive.
"Whilst these are still uncertain times, we enter the new financial year in a strong position and remain focussed on our medium term targets, including delivering 20,000 homes a year."
Looking ahead, the company said it is well positioned for its new financial year, with total forward sales - including joint ventures - as at June 30 of 14,334 homes, up from 14,326 homes the year before and up from 11,419 homes year-on-two-years. The GBP3.47 billion value of forward sales for the new financial year is 6.8% higher than GBP3.25 billion the year before and up one third on two years previously.
Barratt said the opening of 144 new outlets in the year, compared to just 75 last year and 163 two years prior, positions it well for the future as it looks to take advantage of pent-up demand in the housing market. The GBP876.8 million of operational land for purchase that was approved in the year was a marked improvement on GBP368.1 million the year before and up slightly from the pre-pandemic position two years previously.
"The business is in a strong position with substantial net cash, a well-capitalised balance sheet and a healthy forward sales position," the company said.
Shares in the FTSE 100-listed housebuilder were 1.1% higher in London on Wednesday morning at 704.60 pence each.
By Will Paige; [email protected]
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