Inland Homes Full-Year Profit Drops; Chair Roydon To Step Down

(Alliance News) - Inland Homes PLC on Monday reported a fall in full-year profit as activity was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

In a separate release, Inland Homes said Chair Terry Roydon will be standing down from the board at the conclusion of the company's annual general meeting in March.

Senior Independent Director Simon Bennett will be promoted to chair, and Non-Executive Director Brian Johnson will replace Bennett as senior independent director, both with effect from the conclusion of the AGM.

The house builder and brownfield developer also said it has appointed Carol Duncumb as a non-executive director. Duncumb is currently a non-executive director at Mattioli Woods PLC, the AIM-listed specialist wealth management and employee benefits business.

Turning to results, Inland Homes's EPRA net asset value per share at the end of September 2020 was 103.97 pence per share, down 8.5% on a year ago due to a placing of 20.8 million new shares during the year. EPRA net asset value in total edged up slightly, to GBP235.7 million from GBP233.1 million a year ago.

Revenue for the year to September 30 was GBP124.0 million, down from GBP147.9 million in the 15-month period to September 30, 2019. Pretax profit plunged by 85% to GBP3.7 million from GBP25.0 million.

"The group had been trading in line with expectations up to March 2020. Covid-19 changed the market backdrop significantly, and its ramifications were immediate. The extent of the overall disruption inevitably impacted on the group's final results for the year ended 30 September 2020, with five significant land sales, which were at an advanced stage of documentation with solicitors, aborted in its immediate wake," the company said.

Inland Homes added that it has completed the five aborted land sales with new buyers, with the proceeds providing additional cash flow.

Gross profit for the year shrank to GBP22.0 million from GBP32.5 million as a result of the shorter accounting period and lower revenue.

"It is also due to lower margins in housebuilding, losses incurred in contract income and increased costs due to Covid-19, together with reduced output leading to an inefficient rate of absorption of site overheads and sales costs. Production cost increases also impacted on contracts. These increases were due to changes in building regulations which necessitated changes to design and materials used," the company explained.

While the short-term outlook remains unclear, Inland Homes said sustained levels of developer, investor, partner and private interest in its land assets and homes reflects "the fundamental shortage of high-quality, affordably-priced housing across the UK as well as the group's positioning in its markets".

Given the uncertainties caused by Covid-19, the company cancelled the second interim dividend of 2.25p per share that was due to be paid on June 12, resulting in a cash savings of GBP4.6 million.

"The board is presently minded to resume the payment of dividends in the current financial year, provided there is no further deterioration in the land and housing market caused by the Covid-19 pandemic or otherwise," said Inland Homes.

Separately, Inland Homes' fully owned subsidiary Inland ZDP PLC reported an asset value of 167.30p per ZDP share as at September 30 versus 159.42p a year ago. Inland ZDP has a capital structure comprising unlisted ordinary shares and zero dividend preference shares.

Shares in Inland Homes were down 10% at 57.45 pence in London on Monday. Inland ZDP shares were untraded at 161.00p.

By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com

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