Vistry shares up on positive outlook for housebuilder
Housebuilder Vistry said it expects profit to grow this year despite pressure that has been squeezing many of the country’s property companies in recent months.
The company, formerly known as Bovis Homes, said it expects to make a pre-tax profit “in excess of £450m” during the current financial year.
It would be an increase from just over £418m in 2022. Shares rose 3.8 per cent on Thursday morning.
The builder said that it had a strong order book, although the number of forward sales had decreased to 1,408 in mid-May compared with 1,563 a year earlier.
“We have continued to see improving market conditions and the group has traded in line with our expectations for the year to date,” said chief executive Greg Fitzgerald.
“The homes and places that Vistry is creating continue to respond directly to the needs of society, delivering mixed tenure housing for new communities across the country.”
He said that Vistry was able to keep its costs down because of the size of the business, as companies and individuals have been forced to deal with runaway prices for the goods and labour they buy.
“We are well positioned to manage costs, reflecting the enlarged group’s increased purchasing scale and the visibility of revenues within our partnerships business, and for the 2023 financial year we are targeting to offset any inflationary cost increases.
“The integration of Countryside continues to make excellent progress and we expect to deliver £25m of synergies in 2023 and the full run rate of £60m by the end of 2023.
“I am increasingly confident on the outlook for Vistry for 2023 and expect adjusted profit before tax for 2023 to be in excess of £450m.”
August Graham, Press Association