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(Alliance News) - Henry Boot PLC on Monday said it anticipates its performance in 2021 to be ahead of the board's expectations as a result of strong trading across the group.
Shares in Henry Boot were up 6.0% at 276.53 pence each in London on Monday morning.
Sheffield, England-based Henry Boot is a construction company and property developer.
For 2020, it reported pretax profit of GBP17.1 million, down 65% from GBP49.1 million in 2019, as revenue dropped by 41% to GBP222.4 million from GBP379.7 million.
Among divisions, Henry Boot Developments continues to see growth in both occupier and investment demand within the industrial and logistics market, leading to positive capital returns and resulting in the group's investment portfolio valuation exceeding half-year forecasts, the company said.
Henry Boot said it expects further growth in valuations within the division by the end of 2021 due to the planned retention of several assets that are currently under construction.
The company said it continued to make acquisitions in the industrial and logistics market and the urban residential market during the six months to June 30 in support of its development pipeline. However, as a result its balance sheet has swung to a net debt of about GBP13 million.
Henry Boot Construction continues to trade ahead of expectations on an full order book for 2021. "Banner Plant's trading levels are back to those experienced in 2019 and are now trading ahead of budget for the year. Road Link (A69) continues to benefit from an increase in traffic levels which are exceeding initial expectations," the company said.
Hallam Land Management and Stonebridge Homes are trading in line and continue to benefit from a buoyant housing market, Henry Boot said.
Henry Boot will publish its 2021 Interim Results on September 13.
By Amrit Sahota; newsroom@alliancenews.com
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