Barratt reports record new housing completions but profit hit by cladding costs
UK housebuilder Barratt Developments announced it will resume dividend payments after posting record completions, but warned it will take a £56m hit on legacy properties, including issues related to cladding.
The firm said it will pay an interim dividend of 7.5p per share on 10 May following a “rapid and robust recovery and a further strengthened balance sheet”.
Barratt reported that first half year home completions were up 9.2 per cent to 9,077.
Revenue jumped 10.1 per cent to £2.49bn, and profit before tax was up 1.7 per cent to £430.2m.
Barratt said it incurred an additional £56.3m in costs related to legacy developments.
A review into faulty concrete frames discovered during cladding replacements at its Citiscape building in Croydon accounted for most of the extra costs.
It has spent £15.6m on developments where it has a legal liability to fix the cladding due to changing fire-safety advice in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
The firm’s share price jumped more than three per cent this morning.
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