The Lemon Fool

Total forward sales (including JVs) were up 2.4% to £3,365.1m as at 5 May 2019 (6 May 2018: £3,286.7m).

Awarded the Home Builder Federation's maximum 5 Star customer satisfaction rating for ten years in a row, the only major housebuilder to do so, reconfirming our industry-leading customer service and build quality.

Cash generation remains strong and we continue to expect year end net cash to be c. £600m - £650m.

The outlook for the full year is modestly above the Board's previous expectations.

Barratt Developments PLC (the 'Group') is today issuing a trading update for the year ended 30 June 2019 (the 'year') ahead of publication of its annual results on 4 September 2019. All comparatives are to the year ended 30 June 2018 ('2018') unless otherwise stated.

Highlights

· 17,856 total homes completed including joint ventures (2018: 17,579 homes), with wholly owned completions up by 2.6% to 17,111 homes (2018: 16,680 homes)

· Operating margin(1) at c. 18.9% (2018: 17.7%), with underlying margin improvement of around 70 bps, driven mainly by our margin initiatives

· Profit before tax expected to be ahead of market expectations(2) at around £910m (2018: £835.5m), driven by continued strong progress from margin initiatives, a strong close to the year and additional contribution from joint ventures

· Awarded the HBF's maximum 5 Star customer satisfaction rating for the tenth year in a row, reflecting our commitment to quality and customer service

· Strong forward sales position with total forward sales (including JVs) as at 30 June 2019 of £2,604.1m (30 June 2018: £2,175.7m)

idpickering wrote:Trading Statement;

Barratt Developments PLC (the 'Group') is today issuing a trading update for the year ended 30 June 2019 (the 'year') ahead of publication of its annual results on 4 September 2019. All comparatives are to the year ended 30 June 2018 ('2018') unless otherwise stated.

Highlights

· 17,856 total homes completed including joint ventures (2018: 17,579 homes), with wholly owned completions up by 2.6% to 17,111 homes (2018: 16,680 homes)

· Operating margin(1) at c. 18.9% (2018: 17.7%), with underlying margin improvement of around 70 bps, driven mainly by our margin initiatives

· Profit before tax expected to be ahead of market expectations(2) at around £910m (2018: £835.5m), driven by continued strong progress from margin initiatives, a strong close to the year and additional contribution from joint ventures

· Awarded the HBF's maximum 5 Star customer satisfaction rating for the tenth year in a row, reflecting our commitment to quality and customer service

· Strong forward sales position with total forward sales (including JVs) as at 30 June 2019 of £2,604.1m (30 June 2018: £2,175.7m)

https://www.investegate.co.uk/barratt-d ... 00020072F/

Wizard wrote:
I hold and I'm happy with those numbers.

Highlights

· Britain's largest housebuilder leading the industry in both build quality and customer service. Only major housebuilder to be awarded HBF 5 Star rating by our customers for ten consecutive years

· Highest half year home completions in 12 years with 8,314 total completions3, up 9.1%, reflecting growth and a smoother delivery profile. On track for 3-5% growth in wholly owned completions in FY20

· Adjusted operating margin of 19.4% (2018: 19.0%), driven by continued good progress from our margin initiatives. Operating margin was 18.6% (2018: 19.2%) after adjusted items costs of £17.8m (2018: adjusted items credit of £3.7m)

· Land creditors as at 31 December reduced to £830.8m (2018: £961.8m), achieving targeted level, and continued effective cash generation, closing the half year with net cash of £433.8m (2018: £387.7m)

· First UK housebuilder to set a science-based target, challenging ourselves to reduce carbon emissions in our operations by around a third from FY18 to FY25 in line with our ambition to be the leading national sustainable housebuilder

Barratt Developments PLC (the 'Group'), Britain's largest housebuilder, today provides an update on its plans for a phased reopening of its construction sites, on its support for local communities and the NHS and on the evolving impact of COVID-19 on the business. Barratt Developments PLC has a year end of 30 June.

David Thomas, Chief Executive of Barratt Developments PLC:

"Our first priority is the health and safety of our employees, sub-contractors and customers. We have created a detailed set of working practices and protocols for employees and sub-contractors to ensure that we can reopen our construction sites safely, in a phased and measured way, which minimises risk. In line with our commitment to put our customers first, we will be prioritising the completion of those homes that our customers have already exchanged or reserved.

I would also like to thank our employees who have been fantastic during this challenging time, both those who have worked hard to get us ready to restart and our employees who are not currently working, many of whom have been inspirational as volunteers in their local communities."

Barratt Developments PLC (the 'Group') is today issuing a trading update for the year ended 30 June 2020 (the 'year') ahead of publication of its annual results on 2 September 2020. The Group also provides an update following the conclusion of investigations into structural issues at a legacy development - Citiscape in Croydon. All comparatives are to the year ended 30 June 2019 ('2019') unless otherwise stated.

· All operational sites were reopened by 30 June 2020 and all employees, other than those shielding, have now recommenced working in the business

· Health and safety continues to be our first priority and all of our operations comply with our enhanced COVID-19 working practices and protocols

· Completion volumes were significantly reduced by the lockdown period with 12,6041 total homes including joint ventures completed during the year (2019: 17,856 homes)

· High customer interest levels since sales centres reopened, with net private reservations per active outlet2 per average week of 0.63 (2019: 0.69) for the last six weeks



· Our forward order book is strong with total forward sales (including JVs) as at 30 June 2020 of 14,326 homes (30 June 2019: 11,419 homes) at a value of £3,249.7m (30 June 2019: £2,604.1m)

· Resilient balance sheet, with year-end net cash3 of around £305m (30 June 2019: £765.7m) and land creditors at around £800m (30 June 2019: £960.7m) equivalent to c.25% (30 June 2019: 31.3%) of the owned land bank

Dod101 wrote:So the Final dividend is to be cancelled, but they are returning furlough monies paid to the company. I do not hold and am quite glad about that.

Dod

We are seeing continuing strong customer demand for our high quality new homes across the country. Our sales rate in the period was 0.871 net private reservations per active outlet per average week, up 20.8% on last year (2020: 0.72).

We operated from an average of 340 (2020: 374) active outlets (including 8 JVs (2020: 8)) reflecting the delay to site commencements created by the impact of the lockdown period on our operations. In line with our expectations, we have launched 33 (2020: 26) new developments (including JVs), helping underpin the expected recovery of our completion volumes.

In the period we delivered 4,032 (2020: 3,252) home completions (including JVs), up 24.0% on last year. Total forward sales (including JVs) as at 11 October 2020 were 15,135 homes (13 October 2019: 12,963 homes) at a value of £3,647.6m (13 October 2019: £3,070.2m).

Our sites continue to operate safely and successfully across the country, including areas of local lockdown, enabled by our extensive COVID-19 working practices and protocols. Construction activity remains in line with FY21 planned output, with an average of 294 equivalent homes constructed per week in the period.

We have delivered an excellent first half performance. Across the country, we have seen strong customer demand for our high quality new homes. Our sales rate over the period has, as anticipated, moderated since our October update to a more normalised level and for the period was up 11.6% at 0.771 (2019: 0.692) net private reservations per active outlet per week.

During the first half we saw an increased sales rate as strong underlying demand was supplemented by pent-up demand from the initial national lockdown, the introduction of the stamp duty holiday and the March 2021 end of Help to Buy for existing home owners. While we entered FY21 with elevated levels of work in progress and rapidly improved our site-based construction activity in the first quarter, the very strong demand experienced in the half year absorbed both of these, and has reduced our product availability for the third quarter of FY21.

In the half year, we operated from an average of 342 (2019: 372) active outlets (including 8 JVs (2019: 9)), a reduction of 8.1% reflecting the delay to site starts created by the initial national lockdown period. We have had a successful first half, launching 63 (2019: 45) new outlets (including JVs), above our expectations, which we expect to sustain the ongoing recovery in our completion volumes in FY21 and beyond.

In the period we delivered 9,077 (2019: 8,314) home completions (including JVs of 378 (2019: 314)), up 9.2% on last year. This growth benefited from both the elevated level of work in progress carried into the new financial year and our higher opening forward sales position, due to the initial national lockdown delaying completions. Our total average selling price ('ASP') increased by 1.1% to c. £283k (2019: £279.8k), with private ASP up 2.2% to c. £319k (2019: £312.0k), reflecting both a positive mix impact and underlying house price inflation.

Total forward sales (including JVs) as at 31 December 2020 have increased by 14.3% to 13,588 homes (2019: 11,885 homes) at a value of £3,212.1m (2019: £2,691.0m), 19.4% up on last year. We are now over 90% forward sold for this financial year.

Despite the challenges, our sites operated successfully across the country during the period, enabled by our extensive COVID-19 working practices and protocols. As a result, construction activity in the first half was slightly ahead of planned output, with an average of 298 equivalent homes, including JV's, constructed per week. We enter our second half with a reduced level of work in progress carried forward at December 2020 compared to June 2020 and, as a result, a greater reliance on construction activity in the half year ahead.

Under the latest regulations to address the recent increase in coronavirus infections, we are able to continue site based construction across Britain. Our sales offices continue to operate on an appointment basis in England and Scotland but have been required to close in Wales. Our industry-leading and British Safety Council accredited COVID-secure policies are fully embedded and our first priority is to keep our employees, sub-contractors, suppliers and customers safe. We continue to manage the operational challenges created by COVID-19 across our business including providing flexibility for those with childcare responsibilities and supporting our clinically extremely vulnerable employees who are unable to work from home.

Highlights

· Strong demand across the country resulted in net private reservations per active outlet(1) per week of 0.78 (2020: 0.60; 2019: 0.70)(2)

· Excellent recovery of completion volumes; 17,243 total homes completed in the year (2020: 12,604 homes; 2019: 17,856 homes) including 726 from JVs (2020: 570; 2019: 745), ahead of previous guidance

· Adjusted profit before tax is anticipated to be marginally above the top end of the range of market expectations(3)

· Profit before tax, after adjusted items of c. £107m, is expected to be at the top end of the range of market expectations(4)

· Strong well-capitalised balance sheet with year-end net cash(5) of around £1,315m (30 June 2020: £308.2m; 30 June 2019: £765.7m), ahead of previous guidance, reflecting the timing of land expenditure and the delivery of additional completions

· Awarded 93 Pride in the Job Awards in the June 2021 NHBC awards, more than any other housebuilder for the 17th consecutive year

· Well positioned for FY22 with total forward sales (including JVs) as at 30 June 2021 of 14,334 homes (30 June 2020: 14,326 homes; 30 June 2019: 11,419 homes) at a value of £3,473.5m (30 June 2020: £3,249.7m; 30 June 2019: £2,604.1m)

And later, this on dividends;

Dividend

The Board continues to recognise the importance of dividends to all shareholders with a dividend policy based on a full year dividend cover of 2.5 times.

Highlights

· Excellent operational and financial performance throughout the year with total home completions4 increasing by 36.8% to 17,243 (2020: 12,604), just 3.4% below the 17,856 total completions achieved in 2019.

· Gross margin of 21.0% (2020: 18.0%; 2019: 22.8%) with the adjusted gross margin recovering to 23.2% (2020: 18.5%; 2019: 22.8%) reflecting market strength and completion volume recovery.

· Strong cash generation with net cash at 30 June 2021 of £1,317.4m (30 June 2020: £308.2m; 30 June 2019: £765.7m) which enables our growth plans.

· Maintained competitive position in the land market, whilst remaining disciplined. Approved £876.8m (2020: £368.1m; 2019: £859.8m) of operational land for purchase, equating to 18,067 plots (2020: 9,441 plots; 2019: 18,448 plots) on 97 new sites (2020: 51; 2019: 90).

· Continued industry leadership in quality and customer service recognised through a seventeenth consecutive year of achieving more NHBC Pride in the Job Awards than any other housebuilder and the twelfth consecutive year of receiving the HBF maximum 5 Star customer satisfaction rating.

· Made significant progress towards being the country's leading national sustainable housebuilder, with an increased focus on significantly reducing our environmental impact.

· Final ordinary dividend per share of 21.9p (2020: nil; 2019: 19.5p) together with the interim dividend of 7.5p (2020: nil; 2019: 9.6p) resulting in a total ordinary dividend for the financial year of 29.4p (2020: nil; 2019: 29.1p).