Final results for the year ended 31 December 2009
- 8,976 legal completions for the year (2008: 10,202) at an average selling price* of £160,513 (2008: £172,994)
- Sales revenue for the year of £1.42bn (2008: £1.76bn)
- Pre-tax profit of £77.8m following exceptional release of £74.8m of net realisable value provisions (2008: £780.0m loss, after £904.8m exceptional charge)
- Underlying pre-tax profits** of £7.0m (2008: £126.6m), with a profit of £23.7m being generated in the second half
- Underlying operating margin** in the second half improving to c. 6% from 1.6% in the first half. Full year margin of 4.0% (2008: 11.3%)
- Net borrowings*** at the year end reduced to £267.5m (2008: £600.7m), comfortably within c. £1bn facilities
- Basic earnings per share 24.7p (2008: 208.3p loss per share)
- Net assets per share increased by 4.3% to 540.2p (2008: 518.0p)
- Strong forward sales of c. £900m, up 29% on 2008 of £698m
- 90 new sites scheduled to open in the first half of 2010
- Healthy landbank of 60,454 plots (2008: 69,279) owned and under control, representing over six years’ supply
- c. 5,500 plots acquired or terms agreed – includes c. 1,900 pulled through from strategic land portfolio
John White, Group Chairman said: “Our cash generation and cost control have placed the business in a strong position both operationally and financially for a recovering market. Prices have held firm since the beginning of the year and we remain focused on improving our operating margins and to profitably grow the business.”
* Calculated from nominal value of turnover – before fair value charge on shared equity sales
** Stated before goodwill impairment and exceptional items
*** Stated before finance lease obligations and financing transaction costs