Barratt Developments sees property sales and completions jump in first half
Sales at residential property company Barratt Developments jumped by 17 per cent in the six months to 31 December, up to £1.68bn from £1.44bn in the first half of the 2014 financial year.
Completions also increased, improving from 6,195 to 6,971.
Of the total number of completions, 1,149 were in the affordable housing sector, which grew by 53 per cent from 751 last year.
According to Barratt, the land market “remains attractive across all regions”. The company revealed that it secured further “excellent operational and strategic land opportunities that at least meet our minimum hurdle rates” during the first half. The firm expects to approve around 16,000 plots in the full financial year, with 7,242 plots approved in the first half.
Mark Clare, Barratt’s group chief executive, stated: “We are on track for another significant improvement in our financial performance for the full year as we continue to operate in a disciplined way, building the highest quality homes in places people want to live. Our significant investment programme in new land continues to pay off and over the next six months we plan to open around 90 new sites which will give us the highest average number of developments for six years.”
Analysts at Peel Hunt said that while Barratt’s shares have “slipped back a bit as a result of the recent bear raid on the sector”, the fundamentals remain intact. The broker added that it sees “a bit more value in Barratt than in the other two big liquid builders”.
The company’s share price dropped by 0.12 per cent yesterday, to close at 425p per share.