27th May 2022 18:18
(Alliance News) - Vistry Group PLC hailed the strength of its balance sheet as the housebuilder started to return cash to shareholders.
The housebuilder on Friday announced it has commenced a share buyback programme to repurchase up to GBP35 million of shares.
"With balance sheet strength, the priority remains investing in the business to support the Group's growth strategy. The Housebuilding business remains focused on controlled volume growth, driving margins and return on capital employed, while Partnerships continues to drive rapid growth in its higher margin mixed tenure revenue," the company said.
Earlier in May, Vistry had said it experienced a strong start to the year and expects margins in both housebuilding and partnerships in 2022 to be ahead of previous 2022 targets.
It now expects adjusted pretax profit for 2022 to be at the top end of market forecasts. It placed the top of end of these forecasts at GBP415.0 million, which would be up 20% from GBP346.0 million generated in 2021.
"There is no change to the 2 times dividend cover policy, and so the extra cash generated from the stronger trading is designated excess capital. While GBP35 million is not huge in the context of the group, it demonstrates management's commitment to returning excess capital, as well as its view on the current share price," said analysts at Peel Hunt.
The stock closed up 1.6% at 897.00 pence on Friday but is down 27% so far this year.
By Arvind Bhunjun; [email protected]
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