Berkeley profits rise as revenue grows
Housebuilder Berkeley Group has posted an uptick in profit and revenue, boosted by “good demand” outside of London.
Pretax profit rose by 2.9% to £518.1m in the year ending April. Revenue grew by 14.7% to £2.2bn during the period.
The group sold 2,825 new homes across London and the South East, compared with 2,723 last year. These had an average selling price of £770,000, up from £677,000 in the previous year.
Housebuilder Berkeley Group has posted an uptick in profit and revenue, boosted by “good demand” outside of London.
Pretax profit rose by 2.9% to £518.1m in the year ending April. Revenue grew by 14.7% to £2.2bn during the period.
The group sold 2,825 new homes across London and the South East, compared with 2,723 last year. These had an average selling price of £770,000, up from £677,000 in the previous year.
Cash due on forward sales totalled £1.7bn, down on nearly £1.9bn in the previous year.
The group estimated that its land holdings will generate a £6.9bn future gross margin, with an additional £600m in the near-term pipeline to bring the total up to £37.5bn.
There are 63,270 future plots in its land holdings, up from 58,413 in 2020. The group added 10 brownfield sites during the year, with potential for 6,650 new homes.
Berkeley said that demand outside of London was aided by government measures, including the temporary stamp duty holiday.
In the capital, transaction levels were impacted by travel restrictions. However, the group said that enquiry levels are now ahead of pre-pandemic levels, signalling “the return of confidence to the London market”.
Rob Perrins, chief executive at Berkeley, said: “This is a very strong platform from which to continue serving the most under-supplied housing markets in the country once the disruption caused by the pandemic dissipates and London is again able to flourish as a global destination for culture, entertainment, education, recreation and business.
“London is one of the world’s greatest open and welcoming cities and it has been wonderful to witness its vibrancy returning over recent weeks, with the gradual lifting of restrictions.”
It was also announced that Peter Vernon will step down from the board at the company’s annual general meeting on 3 September this year.
Berkeley said Vernon would take a “long-planned sabbatical” to coincide with his retirement from Grosvenor.
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