Berkeley sees pre-tax profit fall by 20%

Berkeley Group Holdings, which started its 2018/19 financial year anticipating profits would be approximately 30% lower than in 2017/18, has recorded a 21% fall in its pre-tax profit to £775m. It said this reflected more resilient trading during the year than expected. This stemmed from the sale of 3,698 homes, up from 3,678 in 2018. The homes had a higher average selling price of £748,000, compared with £725,000 the previous year, reflecting the mix of properties sold. Sales continued to be split evenly between owner occupiers and investors, with overseas customers continuing to see relative value in the London market. Help to Buy reservations accounted for 297 sales in the year, Berkeley reported.   However, Berkeley said it still expected its pre-tax profit to fall by around a third from the 2018/19 level for 2019/20, in line with its existing guidance. Berkeley also reported that its net assets increased by £0.4bn (14.4%) over the course of the year to just under £3bn. The housebuilder’s net value asset per share also rose 18.9% to £23.05 over the year ending 30 April 2019.  At the 30 April Berkeley had net cash of £975m, forward sales of £1.8bn and an estimated £6.2bn of gross profit in its land holdings, having added 14 new sites to its land bank this year, comprising 8,700 new homes. To send feedback, e-mail louise.dransfield@egi.co.uk or tweet @DransfieldL or @estatesgazette