27th Feb 2020 09:30
(Alliance News) - Vistry Group PLC on Thursday reported a record profit performance for 2019 as revenue grew on higher completions and selling prices.
The FTSE 250-listed housebuilder, formerly known as Bovis Homes, reported a pretax profit of GBP188.2 million, up 12% from GBP168.1 million the year before.
This figure was above market consensus gathered by Bloomberg of GBP181.0 million, Vistry said.
The company renamed itself as Vistry after it completed the acquisition of two Galliford Try PLC businesses in January.
Revenue for the period grew by 6.5% to GBP1.13 billion from GBP1.06 billion, as total completions rose by 2.9% to 3,867 units. The average selling price for 2019 was GBP280,200, up 2.6% year-on-year from GBP273,200.
Vistry said it has a total land bank including joint ventures of 17,238 plots as at December 31, flat from the same date the prior year.
Vistry declared a final dividend of 41.0 pence per share, bringing the total payout to 61.5p, up 7.9% from 57.0p in 2018.
Looking ahead, Vistry said it enjoyed a strong performance in the first seven weeks of 2020, with the underlying average sales rate per site per week up 15% year-on-year. Vistry's order book stands at GBP890 million, down from GBP960 million in 2019, with 88% of the order book secured.
"For the last three years, Bovis Homes has focused on putting the customer back at the centre of everything we do. As a result, and thanks to the hard work of our people, I am delighted we have achieved a 5-star HBF customer satisfaction rating. We have also made further operational progress in the year across all business areas resulting in another year of record profits," said Chief Executive Greg Fitzgerald.
"It is from this position of strength that we completed the transformational acquisition of Linden Homes and Vistry Partnerships to create one of the UK's leading homebuilders. We are making excellent progress with integration, and I am confident we will deliver the clear and significant benefits from this exciting combination," Fitzgerald added.
Shares in Vistry were down 4.0% at 1,287.00 pence on Thursday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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