Observation16 Mar 2018 09:33
At the bottom of the FTSE 100 early Friday was housebuilder Berkeley Group Holdings, down 4.4% as it said trading has been in line since the end of its half year but difficult market conditions in London and the south east have left little room for production outperformance.
The company said it expects forward sales at the end of the year ending April 30 over GBP2.00 billion, compared to GBP2.74 billion the year before, which allows the group to reaffirm its guidance for GBP3.3 billion in pretax profit over the five year period from May 1, 2016 to April 30, 2021.
However, Berkeley added that it is currently unable to increase production beyond its business plan levels, as market conditions in London and the south east region of England remain constrained as home movers and downsizers are held back by high transaction costs and economic uncertainty.
Other London-listed housebuilders fell following Berkeley's update, with Taylor Wimpey down 2.0%, Barratt Developments down 1.6% and Persimmon down 1.6%.