Latest news with #housebuilder
Forbes
14 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Berkeley's Shares Plummet As CEO Perrins Announces Move To Chairman
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg News of a personnel change at the top has caused shares in housebuilder Berkeley Group to sink in end-of-week trading. At £38.52 per share, the FTSE 100 company was last dealing 7.2% lower on Friday. Berkeley – which focuses on home construction in London and the South East of England – said that Rob Perrins will vacate his position as chief executive during the autumn. He will be replaced by chief financial officer Richard Stearn. Perrins – who has held the chief executive position since for 16 years – will take over the role of chairman after Michael Dobson steps down after Berkeley's AGM on 5 September. Berkeley commented that Perrins 'has overseen a period of exceptionally strong performance and value creation' since his appointment as CEO in 2009. It added that his replacement by Stearn 'will uphold Berkeley's longstanding tradition and preference for promoting from within which maintains the culture and values of the organization and provides continuity and stability for the company, our people and shareholders.' Alongside those boardroom changes, Berkeley announced full-year trading numbers that came in line with market forecasts. Revenues crept 0.9% higher to £2.5 billion, during the 12 months to April as the UK housing market remained under pressure. The FTSE firm delivered 4,047 new homes over the period, up from 3,521 previously. The builder's operating margin crept 0.6% higher, to 20.1%. Pre-tax profit ducked 5.1%, to £529 million, while net cash dropped to £337 million from £532 million the year before. Berkeley hiked the full-year dividend to 240p per share from 92p in financial 2025. Share buybacks totaled £130m, up from £72m. Chief executive Perrins commented that the full-year trading statement 'represents an excellent operational performance with highly disciplined execution and close control of costs.' He noted that 'we have added long-term value to the business, both in our land holdings and through our Build to Rent (BTR) platform, while returning £381.5 million to shareholders; a great start to the Berkeley 2035 strategy.' Under its 10-year growth program, Berkeley plans to create a market-leading BTR platform alongside delivering on pipeline sites and investing in new land. Perrins added that 'there is good underlying demand for our homes, with transaction volumes gradually improving over the course of the year.' But he added that 'consumer confidence remains finely balanced and a more meaningful recovery requires both improved sentiment and macroeconomic stability.' On Berkeley's full-year numbers, analyst Aarin Chiekrie of Hargreaves Lansdown commented that while 'sales continued to tick higher over the year,' he added that 'they remain well below the group's long-term targets, showing there's a lot of work still to be done.' He noted that 'a lot of this is outside of Berkeley's control though and will depend on further interest rate cuts and broader economic stability to help boost buyer confidence.' Chiekrie added that 'with over 75% of sales for the current year already locked in, Berkeley looks well-placed to hit its full-year pre-tax profit guidance of at least £450 million.'
Daily Mail
12-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Crest Nicholson profits triple as housing market shows signs of recovery
Profits at Crest Nicholson more than tripled in the last six months as lower mortgage rates and improved consumer confidence boosted the UK housing market. Crest reported an adjusted pre-tax profit of £7.9million for the six months ending 30 April, up from £2.6million a year ago. On a statutory basis, the housebuilder swung to a £9.4million profit after posting losses of £30.9million last year. On Wednesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced an additional £10billion investment in the housing sector, which came on top of a £39billion 10-year programme announced earlier in the week. A greater share of Crest's new build sales during the quarter were 'affordable' homes, driving revenues down slightly to £249.5million. Home completions also slipped to 739, against 788 at the same point a year ago. The total weighted average selling price of properties across the group was £342,000, down from £349,000 by the same point a year ago. On lower average selling prices, the group said: 'The reduction reflected a higher proportion of affordable units in the overall mix. Open market private ASPs increased modestly to £422,000 (HY24: £421,000).' On 20 March, the group said it had launched a 'business transformation programme', which has led to some redundancies. Martyn Clark, chief executive of Crest, said: 'The housing market continues to show signs of stabilisation with an incrementally easing planning system, improving affordability and strong support from lenders. 'Customer appetite for the mid premium segment of the market, which is characterised by high-quality, well-designed homes in sought-after locations, and which is our focus segment remains robust.' He added: 'This places Crest Nicholson in a strong position to navigate the market with confidence and clarity of purpose, as we progress towards the delivery of our 2029 targets and with it, attractive and sustained value creation.' Last year, Crest Nicholson set aside £132million for fire safety work but is now clawing back some of that cash from supply chain firms with £11.8million recovered during the period. The group maintained its annual guidance. Clark said: 'I remain confident that with our experienced management team and dedicated workforce, we are well positioned to benefit as the market improves, reshape the business for long-term success.' In June 2024, the group unveiled its first profit warning in a twelve month period. Crest Nicholson shares rose 1.06 per cent or 2 per cent to 191.30p on Thursday, having fallen around 20 per cent in the last year. Adam Vettese, an analyst at eToro, said: 'Crest Nicholson's half-year report showcases a strong rebound amid a tentative UK housing market recovery. '[With] signs that the housing market could be set to stabilise and potentially improve into the second half of the year, some investors may see the current price to book ratio an attractive prospect, although the dividend remains modest.' He added: 'Net debt has climbed and there are still fire remediation concerns to address, which Crest Nicholson will have to navigate carefully. 'Despite this, shares have opened positively this morning and shareholders will be hoping this can be a platform to recover levels seen last year some 30 per cent higher.'
Daily Mail
03-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Higher costs and planning delays hit MJ Gleeson profits
Shares in MJ Gleeson fell sharply on Tuesday with the housebuilder warning higher build costs and weak home price growth would hurt profits this year. The group, which specialises in affordable homes and promoting land for residential development, also highlighted planning delays it expects to continue to weigh on the business into next year. Gleeson had reported solid first half trade with revenues up 4.2 per cent, while the group highlighted 'encouraging signs of a recovery in demand' with reservation rates up 45 per cent over the first four weeks of 2025. But Gleeson told investors the 'pace of the housing market recovery has not been sufficient' to offset 'a number of headwinds' faced through the year. 'These include increased build costs, flat selling prices, the continued use of incentives and several bulk sale transactions,' It said. Gleeson's full-year guidance had also been based on the expected sale of 'extensive land holdings in East Yorkshire'. But delays to this sale mean the group now anticipates that operating profits within its homes business will be 15 to 20 per cent below current expectations. Gleeson Homes' gross margin for the year to 30 June will likely come in 1 per cent below previous guidance, the group said. The unit's 2026's gross margin is expected to see a similar impact. The group's land business, meanwhile, has completed three transactions to date and working to complete a further seven disposals before the year end. Warning signs for the sector? MJ Gleeson shares were down 22 per cent to 402p in early trading, bringing one-year losses to around 28 per cent. The update also weighed on the shares of rivals like Persimmon and Vistry Group, which were down 1.4 and 1.9 per cent, respectively. Analysts at Peel Hunt said: 'There are obvious questions about the read-across to the wider sector. Our sense is that, despite increased affordability, some of the net margin pressure described above will likely be felt across the sector, as the new build market competes with a second-hand sector seeing high stock levels. 'Similarly, planning issues impact all players. We continue to believe the sector needs to see demand-side support to see a material uptick in housing supply.'
