Housebuilder’s profits up to £240m as sector is braced for Brexit backlash
FLINTSHIRE-based housebuilder Redrow says its profits are on course to hit £240m – the top end analysts’ estimates – with the ramifications of the Brexit vote yet to hit the housing market.
In its latest trading statement ahead of its results in September, the listed company said the run up to the EU referendum saw no impact on house sales or visitor levels.
A statement said: “Although it is too early to tell whether Brexit will have any effect on future sales, initial feedback is that sites remain busy, reservations continue to be taken and, indeed, we witnessed long queues and strong reservations at new sites launched last weekend.
“The fact remains that there is a long term underlying demand for new homes following decades of under supply.
“This chronic shortage of housing leaves market fundamentals unchanged.”
The new homes market remained strong throughout the period as the mortgage market continued to improve.
The value of private reservations achieved for the year, driven by strong regional growth, was a record £1.56bn, up 46% on 2015 (£1.07bn).
The private order book at the end of June 2016 is £807m, up more than 50% on June 2015.
The sales rate for the financial year was 0.68 per week, in line with the previous year.
The number of active outlets at the year end increased to 128 (2015: 117) in line with previous guidance.
