Cairn Homes Swings To Annual Profit With Significant Revenue Growth

LONDON (Alliance News) - Ireland-based housebuilder Cairn Homes PLC said Tuesday it swung to a profit buoyed by significant revenue growth on a backdrop of a growing Irish economy in 2017.

For the year, Cairn Homes reported a pretax profit of EUR6.0 million, swinging from a loss of EUR2.8 million. Gross profit margin also widened to 18.2% from 17.3%. Cairn also experienced a significant boost in revenue to EUR149.5 million from EUR40.9 million.

Revenue was helped by 418 unit sales completed in the year at an average selling price of EUR315,000, a large lift from 105 units sold at the average selling price of EUR295,000 in 2016.

As at Monday, Cairn Homes has a forward sales pipeline of 383 units, with a sales value of EUR143.2 million and an average selling price of EUR374,00, reflecting an improving mix and pricing.

Cairn Homes is currently active on eleven developments, up from five at the end of 2016, which is expected to deliver at least 3,650 homes. The company expects three further site developments in 2018.

With market conditions remaining positive with strong demand across all price points, as ongoing supply constraints expected to continue raising demand for new homes above medium term supply, Cairn will look to broaden its product mix across first time buyers, high density apartments and student accommodation.

"Last year we focused on delivering new homes of high quality and we are very pleased with the progress made on new site commencements, units constructed and new homes sold, all of which exceeded our expectations. We also enhanced our landbank through both targeted acquisitions and increased densities from revised planning permissions on existing sites," said Chief Executive Officer Michael Stanley.

"These achievements don't happen without quality people with the right combination of expertise and homebuilding experience. The Greater Dublin Area needs at least 20,000 new homes per annum for the next ten years and 2017 supply was 4,000 new homes. The Cairn team is very well placed to make a significant contribution to narrow this gap and we look forward with confidence," Stanley added.

Shares in Cairn Homes were up 0.7% at EUR1.76 on Tuesday.