Berkeley Homes reports slump in profits
Housebuilder Berkeley Homes outlined plans to ramp up new developments despite reporting a slump in pre-tax profit this morning.
The figures
Pre-tax profit fell 20.7 per cent to £775.2m in the year ended 30 April, but was higher than analysts’ expectations of £730m.
Revenue was £2.95bn, up 4.1 per cent from £2.84bn the previous year,
The company said it had net cash of £975m, up from £687.3m in April last year. Net asset value per share was up 18.9 per cent to £23.05.
Earnings per share were down 18.1 per cent to 481.1p.
Why it’s interesting
The property developer is planning new sites in Southall, Brent and Fulham over the next year despite an ongoing uncertain outlook.
The company has launched 11 new developments this year, with three in London in Enfield, Oval Village and Hornsey. The rest of the new sites are outside the capital in Winchester, Leatherhead, Cranleigh, Sevenoaks, Ascot, and Birmingham, as well as joint ventures in Fleet and Borehamwood.
What Berkeley Homes said
“Berkeley started the year anticipating profits for 2018/19 would be approximately 30 per cent lower than 2017/18, as the positive impact of the investment made at the end of the financial crisis reduced and profitability began to normalise,” chief executive Rob Perrins said.
“This is therefore a strong set of results, reflecting robust trading in the year and the appeal of Berkeley’s developments.“