LONDON (Alliance News) - Telford Homes PLC, which develops homes in more affordable areas close to the centre of London, said pretax profit increased by almost one-third in its last financial year, driven by higher revenue and better margins.
In a statement, the property developer said it made a GBP25.1 million pretax profit in the year ended March 31, compared with GB19.2 million in the prior year.
"We've got more than GBP1 billion in the pipeline in terms of future revenue and more than half of that has been forward sold. The opportunities are out there and the market is very strong. We've already got a lot of it in the pipeline and forward sold a lot of it," Chief Executive Jon Di-Stefano told Alliance News in a telephone interview.
The CEO said demand had been strong despite market uncertainty in the weeks running up to the UK General Election in May, in which the Conservative Party secured a surprise majority victory, with the result helping the overall mood of the property market.
Di-Stefano said Telford Homes has already had strong demand for its Bermondsey Works, a collection of 148 apartments, penthouses and villas in South London, ahead of launch on Thursday.
"We've probably already got 20 of them lined up to be sold on day one, even before we start. That may have been the case before the election as well, but clearly the general mood is that much better now," Di-Stefano said.
Looking ahead, the CEO said he sees opportunities in areas along the new Crossrail line that will cross London from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.
"We're particularly keen on areas impacted by the Crossrail route, including areas just north of Canary Wharf, from where Manhattan Plaza is and into Bow and Poplar to some extent with the opening of the station in 2018," Di-Stefano said.
"There's also Stratford, where we've already done an awful lot, and where there are already transport links in place but just added to by Crossrail. We bought a 5.5 acre site in a joint venture with Notting Hill Housing Group at the tail-end of last year, which is hot on the heels of incredible success at some of our bigger launches in Stratford over the last couple of years."
"We're also looking a little further out along the Crossrail line. We've got a site in Upton Park, that's a little bit away from Crossrail but nonetheless an area where there's a lot of regeneration going on, and Bermondsey Works is in an area of regeneration around Rotherhithe New Road. There's a lot going on around Old Kent Road," the CEO added.
Di-Stefano told Alliance News that Telford Homes has the opportunity to "significantly increase" in size over the next decade.
"We're by no means the biggest developer in London. There's an awful lot of demand and not very much supply. There are opportunities across the whole of Greater London to some extent, and specifically quite a few in the areas we already develop in," he said.
"We've got good growth over the next three or four years. That's all clearly set out in the pipeline but the opportunities to push that even further over the next decade or so are very strong. I don't think the market dynamics and the demand and supply imbalance will go away in a hurry," Di-Stefano said.
The CEO said he is keeping an eye on the election for the next mayor of London in 2016. With candidates already putting themselves forward to succeed the Conservatives' Boris Johnson, who will step down at the end of his second term after being elected as the Member of Parliament for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Di-Stefano expects the campaign to focus heavily on the supply of housing in London.
"In London in particular, it's important that the mayor - and probably therefore the next mayor whoever that may be - is on board with getting housing supply up in London. The whole campaigning for the next mayor will revolve around how many houses they are going to build in London, I'm absolutely certain of that," the CEO said.
"Over time, hopefully, a combination of the government and the Greater London Authority and new mayor will be able...to increase supply over the next few years," Di-Stefano added.
Telford Homes increased its full-year dividend to 11.1 pence per share from 8.8p the year before.
Telford Homes shares were down 2.1% at 477.12 pence on Wednesday morning, but the stock remains up by about one-third so far in 2015.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
