15th Jan 2008 07:01
Galliford Try PLC15 January 2008 GALLIFORD TRY PLC - TRADING UPDATE Galliford Try plc, the construction and housebuilding group, is providing thefollowing update on trading for the half year to 31 December 2007. Key Highlights: - Record first half trading, with half year results expected to be substantially ahead of last year and in line with the board's expectations - Construction order book maintained at £2.0 billion - £9.3 million acquisition of Kendall Cross, north east affordable housing contractor. - Integration of Linden Homes gone well, doubling size of housebuilding business, resulting in half year records: - Completions of 1,174 units (2006: 593 units) - Total sales in hand of £473 million (2006: £204 million) - Sales in hand for the financial year to 30 June 2008 of £410 million represents 65% of projected sales for the year (2006: £197 million representing 70%) - Landbank of 10,641 units (2006: 4,818 units) - Very strong construction cash flows - net debt below £50 million at 31 December 2007 compared to £99 million at 30 June 2007. Operations The building division continues to perform well in strong markets across the UK.We have been particularly successful in securing a spread of projects in theMidlands and Scotland that will follow on from our multi school PFI projects inNorthamptonshire and the Highlands of Scotland, which will complete during 2008.Our Infrastructure division is also delivering a good performance and isbenefiting from very positive markets with its public and regulated sectorclients. Concentrating on the water, highways, rail, remediation, floodalleviation and renewable energy sectors, during the period the business securedadditional work within its existing frameworks for its key clients as well as anumber of one off projects. Overall, our construction order book has beenmaintained at £2.0 billion. We have made excellent progress in the affordable housing and regenerationmarket and are now working on eight major regeneration schemes, six of them withEnglish Partnerships. With the £9.3 million acquisition of Kendall Cross inNovember, a long established affordable housing contractor based in Newcastleupon Tyne, we also established a presence in the north east of England wheresignificant public sector housing expenditure is planned. Our housebuilding division has been trading in an increasingly difficult marketduring the period as the tightening of the credit markets and lower consumerconfidence took hold. We started the financial year with record sales carriedforward and have benefited from our policy of forward selling, our concentrationon individually designed developments and our minimal exposure to consortiumsites. The integration of Linden Homes, acquired in March 2007, has gone welland has doubled the size of our housebuilding division. With a full six months'contribution from Linden, completions for the period were up 98% on last year at1,174 units (2006: 593 units) at an average selling price of £203,000, comparedwith £221,000 a year ago. This reflects a higher proportion of affordable homesand discount levels broadly similar to last year. At 31 December the divisionhas reserved, contracted or completed sales with a total value of £473 million(2006: £204 million) of which £410 million (2006: £197 million) is for thecurrent financial year to 30 June 2008. This represents 65% of the projectedsales for the full year, compared with 70% at the same point last year. Outlook The Group has had a record first half and expects to report half year resultssubstantially ahead of last year and in line with the board's expectations. Itis too early to forecast the housebuilding market into the spring sellingseason, although we are confident that the resilience of our business model andour strong cash management will mitigate the effects of more challengingconditions. Our building and Infrastructure divisions, with their strong spreadof work across the public, regulated and private sectors, are performing wellwith good prospects. We continue to make excellent progress in developing ouraffordable housing and regeneration business. The board therefore remains confident of the future prospects for the Group. Interim Results The Company's interim results for the half year to 31 December 2007 are expectedto be announced on Thursday 21 February 2008. Further enquiries to: Greg Fitzgerald, Chief Executive Galliford Try 01895 855219 Frank Nelson, Finance Director Galliford Try 01895 855226 Ann-marie Wilkinson / Dan de Belder Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial 020 7861 3232 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Galliford Try