5th Sep 2024 14:32
(Alliance News) - Vistry Group PLC on Thursday reported growth in half-year profit and announced a new share buyback.
Vistry shares shot up 5.9% to 1,396.00 pence each in London on Thursday afternoon.
The Kent, England-based housebuilder said pretax profit rose 37% to GBP156.7 million in the six months that ended June 30 from GBP114.2 million a year before. Revenue was GBP1.72 billion, up 9.4% year on year from GBP1.58 billion.
Adjusted pretax profit rose 7.0% to GBP186.2 million from GBP174.0 million, and adjusted revenue rose 11% to GBP1.97 billion from GBP1.78 billion.
The company reported 7,792 completions for its first half, growing 9.1% from 7,143 last year. Vistry reported it was due to complete more than 18,000 units by the end of 2024, a 12% rise from the 16,118 completed in 2023. This prediction was based on the company's forward order book of GBP5.15 billion, which was up 19% from GBP4.47 billion year on year.
Given the strength of its adjusted earnings, Vistry also announced an interim ordinary distribution of GBP55 million and a special distribution of GBP75 million. The combined GBP130 million will be in the form of a share buyback and is expected to begin this month. Vistry said it completed on Wednesday this week the GBP100 million buyback that it had launched back in April.
Analysts at Stifel commented: "Vistry has won over the sceptics in its transformation, but further rerating is possible as the capital base reduces and returns improve further. The new GBP130 million buyback is a further step on this journey."
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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