Henry Boot pre-tax profit “comfortably” ahead of expectations
HENRY BOOT said it expects pre-tax profit for 2016 to be “comfortably ahead” of market expectations, boosted by a high level of land sales completed since the start of the year and a strong commercial development pipeline for the second half.
The construction company said that since its trading update last month, it has concluded two further land sales for 275 house units, one of which was ahead of schedule.
It said that while one of these land sales completed in line with expectations, it had initially forecast that the second land sale, and notably the larger of the two, would comprise three separate sales across the three years ending December 31, 2018.
However, this sale completed yesterday evening, earlier than management expected, with the site sold in two rather than three parts in 2016 and 2017, resulting in a “materially higher total profit on disposal than had been previously anticipated.”
Henry Boot said: “Taking into account the level of land sales now completed by the group since the start of the year, together with the commercial development work in progress through the second half of the year, and irrespective of the EU Referendum result, the board now anticipates that profit before tax for the year ending December 31 2016 will be comfortably ahead of current market expectations.”
The company will update the market regarding trading for the half year ending June 30 on August 25.
