Member Article

Barratt Developments more than doubles profits

Property company Barratt Developments indicated recovery in the housing market in its latest trading statement.

The firm’s headline said it expects profits to have more than doubled in the first half of the year, ahead of its interim results due to be released in February.

Barratt, which has offices around the UK, anticipated pre-tax profits of around £45m, while revenues are expected to be in line with the previous year at approximately £950m.

The number of land acquisitions came to 9,320 plots on 67 sites, with a significant increase in approvals to acquire higher margin land, bought for £453m.

Barratt said market conditions had stabilised over the period, which enabled the firm to boost profits and reduce debts.

Mark Clare, Barratt Development’s chief executive, commented: “This has been a good first half performance.

“Pre-tax profit has more than doubled, net debt was significantly lower than the prior year, and we have started the second half with a strong private forward order book up by over 35%.

“In addition, we have been investing for the future, successfully securing higher margin land both in the South-East and across the rest of the country that will drive further profit growth.”

Looking forward, the group said it hopes to reduce its debt entirely by June 2015, and added that it was on track to deliver strong profits for the end of 2013.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .