23rd Jun 2021 09:32
(Alliance News) - Berkeley Group Holdings PLC on Wednesday reported higher profit and revenue in the 2021 financial year as the UK housing market boomed.
The Cobham-based property developer reported pretax profit of GBP518.1 million for the financial year that ended April 30, up 2.9% from GBP503.7 million the year before. Revenue grew by 15% year-on-year based on the strength of new home sales in London and the South East, with revenues hitting GBP2.20 billion, up from GBP1.92 billion.
Total buybacks and dividends were 19% higher at GBP334.1 million from GBP280.3 million. The company restated its pledge to make annual shareholder returns of GBP281 million until September 2025.
Shares were trading down 1.3% at 4,578.00 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.
As of April 30, the company's land holdings totalled GBP6.88 billion, up from GBP6.42 billion, with another GBP600 million in its short-term pipeline. Berkeley's land holdings have the capacity to deliver 63,000 homes, which puts it on track for future gross profit of GBP7.5 billion.
The firm's average selling price in financial 2021 was GBP770,000, up 14% from GBP677,000 the year prior. However, Berkeley's cash due on forward sales across the next three years fell to GBP1.71 billion from GBP1.86 billion the year before. Private sales reservations also fell by 20% from the previous year.
Berkeley built 2,825 new homes in the period, from 2,723 the year before. The company is currently developing 23 out of its 29 long-term regeneration projects, with another 7,000 plots due to be completed in the next two years.
"We have delivered results for this year and last in line with guidance at the start of the two-year period...maintained our annual GBP281 million shareholder return and added ten new sites, with the capacity to deliver 6,650 new homes, to our land holdings," Chief Executive Rob Perrins said.
Non-executive board member Peter Vernon will step down on September 3 at the company's annual meeting.
By Scarlett Butler; [email protected]
Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Berkeley Group