(Alliance News) -Â Housebuilder Countryside Properties PLC on Thursday guided to a fall in full-year profit, saying it has been pleased with its performance post-lockdown but cautioning on lower margins in the short-term.
Countryside said it ended the financial year to September 30 in line with board expectations, with adjusted operating profit of GBP54 million. For the 2019 financial year, adjusted operating profit came in at GBP234.4 million.
Total completions in the recent year fell to 4,503 from 5,733, while the private average selling price dipped to GBP364,000 from GBP367,000.
"Although the Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant disruption to the business, particularly in the second half of our financial year, our mixed-tenure model has proved resilient and we have continued to see strong demand for all tenures of housing," said Countryside.
The company said its private sales activity was "robust" throughout the year, despite the national lockdown. The net reservation rate of 0.78 for the full year was at the upper end of the its target range of 0.6 to 0.8 - though down on 0.84 the year before - despite an "elevated cancellation rate" due to customer uncertainty, driven by Covid-19.
The "healthy" levels of activity seen earlier in the year have gradually returned, and Countryside said it saw a sustained period of demand during the summer as the market recovered from lockdown.
Countryside said it has been "reassured" by its improving performance post-lockdown, noting that its total forward order book stands at GBP1.4 billion, up 17% on GBP1.2 billion the year before.
"We continue to monitor market activity closely and, as outlined in the summer, we have taken steps to de-risk delivery in FY21 by increasing the proportion of affordable and PRS homes to be delivered, accepting that this lower risk will result in lower margins in the short-term. Our current intention is to reinstate guidance for FY21 with our year end results in December 2020," said Countryside.
Shares in Countryside were down 4.0% at 332.20 pence in London on Thursday.
By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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