Telford Homes doubles earnings as Londoners clamour for houses
HOUSING developer Telford Homes saw its profits double over the past year and said it expected them to double again by 2018, thanks to the unsated appetite for homes in the capital.
The London-focused group reported yesterday that profit before tax increased to £19m in the year to 31 March, compared with £9m the previous year. Operating margins also jumped from 9.7 per cent to 17.1 per cent during the year, thanks to a rise in the average sale price to £400,000.
It expects profits to double again by 2018 with cumulative pre-tax profits set to exceed £120m.
Chief executive Jon Di-Stefano said that trading since the year end had been so strong that it had sold 148 of the 157 flats at its Stratford Central development within just four weeks of its launch, despite the tower not being due to be complete until 2018.
“It is fair to say that this has been one of our quickest sales ever, with people wanting to buy homes in Stratford Central even before the launch opened,” he said.
Telford has sold 70 per cent of its schemes for completion in 2016 and a quarter of homes for 2017.
Its development pipeline has grown to £875m, boosted by £45m of deposits from future buyers.