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Is there still time for Sir Greg Fitzgerald to receive a knighthood in the new years Honours list?

For services to housing and corporate governance ?

Could this latest profit warning in the trilogy from Sir Greg Fitzgerald prove to be his parting gift in a season in which he keeps on giving?

I can't see him lasting beyond full year results; maybe there will be news of him stepping down from at least one role in the trading update Jan 15th..

You changed your tune, you were ramping this dog up over this last few weeks!

As for the rns they have to release material info asap so not to disadvantage investors and to prevent insider trading. They normally do deals up to Christmas eve so now obviously know certain deals won't be happening hence rns, but it will have been a risk for weeks/months.

Their RNS is very vague so is open to interpretation, but I think what they mean by commercial terms is actually the price being offered for bulk deals rather than the cost to procure and produce which should be well known, particularly after the last two profit warning (having seen the qs department at vistry however it was very poor and nothing would suprise me).

Knowing vistry they normally have a fair few of these to get over the line at year end, and what has probably happened is bulk buyers have seen the profitability issues and taken advantage of that by trying to chip the price, knowing vistry needs to do a deal to hit ye numbers.

Vistry has probably decided that it would be better off not being forced to take lower offers to try and hit year end numbers, and instead taking them in the new year at higher values and thus margins (if they can get the price they think they can!). They would have had them in their financial forecasts at a certain level but now have taken them out hence the profit warning.

Really though this should have been flagged as a risk when the initial profit warning was made just three months ago. Very poor management and it does beg the question will the prices they have forecast even better achievable in 2025, or are they being unrealistic with the prices that can be achieved for bulk deals as a whole.

As mortgage costs bite and private net reservations fall next year there will also be more competition from other housebuilders for bulk deals which may reduce the value of bulk deals below that which vistry thought it could achieve and thus has in its forecasts, which will again lead to a fourth profit warning.

What Infuriates me most is that Greg is still here, in both roles promising the same old crap! It is just absolutely incomprehensible how this clown is still in post In both of the top roles at the company despite the material lack of control and continued mismanagement and spectacular failure on his part to deliver anything he outlined, not to mention the conflicts of interest. I've met Greg and he talks a good talk but he can't walk the walk people are now finally seeing that and hopefully it won't be too long till we stop seeing this "Greg Fitzgerald, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive said:"

The problem is the management at this company (or lack of it) is so bad you can't believe a word they say. I've seen it first hand! The market has now finally realised this and doesn't trust a word Greg says- he needs to go from one role of CEO and Chairman at minimum and if not one then both!

This dog had it coming; profit warnings tend to come in threes and for a company as badly run as this it was inevitable. Where are those saying 1000p by Christmas now?!

We are coming off the back of a decade long demand side stimulus package from a conservative government with a vested interest in boosting house prices, coupled together with ultra loose monetary policy which led to a boom period in housebuilding and valuations with artificially higher returns on equity.

Both conditions unlikely to be repeated and there are infact much stronger headwinds with base rates not expected to go below 3%, being the new normal and thus impacting affordability metrics, volumes and forward looking ROE, not even mentioning higher stamp duty and no htb, hence the market sell off.

It is not a good time for housebuilding by any stretch of the imagination let alone your comment "The outlook for housing couldn't be better" 😂

Lol.. pea brain, speak yourself smalldick36 😂🤣

What a load of rubbish, the outlook for housing sector is poor. Many of us in the sector have not seen things so bad in a long time.

Housebuilding is declining, hence the massive sell off in the sector and some of the worst returns on equity in decades. Margins are being squeezed from both ends as costs increase whilst mortgage rates are increasing and volumes fall. You clearly don't understand basic economics.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/uk-construction-grows-house-building-decline-steepens-pmi-shows-2024-12-05/

"The outlook for housing couldn't be better"

LOL.. you for real?!

Well said, there is ALOT of crap written on this board (and others) with people simply plucking numbers out of thin air based on nothing!

Furthermore, it always makes me laugh when people think anything said on this board impacts the share price of a highly liquid share like this at all- it doesn't.

Well said, there is ALOT of crap written on this board (and others) with people simply plucking numbers out of thin air bas

Even a 100% rise from here for example only takes the share back to below the level they were at just before the profit warning!

The companies value has more than halved and it will now certainly be booted out the FTSE 100, which will force tracker funds to dump this stock too.

Svend you do have a very bizarre style of writing - are you using AI to generate a response to my comments by any chance?

Some of your posts seem like they are written by AI, written in a very bizarre style whilst making almost no point! As per example another poster mentioned below but also bizarre comments like this "Leadership effectiveness is measured by results and the ability to prioritize critical tasks, and Greg has consistently demonstrated his capability in doing so."

That did make me laugh, look at the share price - LOL 😂

Hi Svend,

Combining the role of CEO and Chairman certainly does allow for speedier decision making, by allowing costly shortcuts to be taken !

Had a strong independent Chairman been in post, instead of Greg in post for both roles, this mess may never have happened and the board would have been held accountable.

The CEO of a company the size of vistry is in itself a huge role that needs massive dedication, as is the chairman of a company. Yet Greg does both roles, in addition to being chairman of baker estates AND Ardent hire!!

Does this leave him with enough time for his role as CEO at vistry, let alone the role of an impartial chairman at the same company too (and two others).. clearly not!

Hi Svend, I am not against Greg having one role and like you believe he does have a strong industry skillset.

I am however very strongly against poor corporate governance, and in particular the combined role of CEO and Chairman which is imo completely unacceptable.

The job of the chairman is to ensure the board has the necessary skills knowledge and experience to run the company effectively, whilst remaining impartial. That is not possible when Greg is chairman!

He either drops down into CEO, or remains Chairman and gives up the CEO position (He is probably more suited to CEO than Chairman). If not, then I'd prefer him gone completely than to remain in both roles! It is not possible for him to remain in both IMO.

The entity no longer has any credibility. It can report any number it likes for it's next set of results, but the market will not and does not trust those numbers. Given the appalling and insufficient controls, coupled with incompetent management and staff in numerous areas, it is only a matter of time before further problems are unearthed.

The only way the violent downward share price freefall can be arrested is to remove Greg Fitzgerald with force from, at minimum, one of the rolls of CEO and Chairman - but who is there to remove him when he holds both posts?! A clear imbalance of power- History tells us the roles of CEO and Chairman should be split for good reason; Greg has been given far too much power and removing Earl, whilst a sensible move, is too little too late. It won't be long before shareholders force Greg out of one role, if not both imo.

You can't compare the growth in book values per share for a host of reasons. Firstly, as you say, dividend policy makes a huge difference; at one end of the scale you have low dividend paying companies like bellway and at the other end you have huge dividend payers like tw and persimmon. Tw for example has paid over £1 per share dividends over just ten years, and had it instead paid nothing (or a small divi) it could have used that £1 cash as capital employed to generate yet further returns, which would have compounded and driven book value much higher than just the £1 per share paid out. Secondly you have the rights issues and additional shares in circulation, but you also have different businesses entirely. For example tw sold it's entire American arm for a discount (distressed sale to pay debt) and also there have been several additional rounds of M&A which often results in intangibles such as in the case of vistry; part of that intangible would be where a premium was paid for shares above book value (linden/countryside etc) which you have stripped out- this isn't comparable because part of that Intangible should be in theory realisable as the land would be held at the lower of cost or net reliable value- in reality it will be worth more unless freshly written down. Further to this you have a whole host more hidden in the book values, such as strat land of which tw has one of the largest and is probably worth alot more than held for. That is why epra net asset value is often used for better comparison. It also depends on how conservatively the businesses have valued their assets (and liabilities!); look at crest for example there is no way that is worth 320p per share yet it has got away with holding net assets on its balance sheet as such, yet some of those builders listed I know for a fact they very prudently value their assets which will then feed through in later years as higher margins, and for those reasons and more you can't directly compare growth in book value as a comparative like you have.

It's not good enough and the market clearly thinks so too. Vistry will continue to be punished for such poor corporate governance through the beating it's share price is taking. It will continue to take an absolute pasting until these matters are dealt with satisfactorily. It is taking shareholders as mugs with these unacceptable actions - Greg needs to go from at least one of the roles of CEO and chairman and if not, then both!