Berkeley warns of profits slump as stock of cheap land runs out

One of Britain’s most upmarket housebuilders has warned that its profits will fall by 30% next year as the stock of land it bought cheaply after the credit crunch runs out. Berkeley Group reported a 15% rise in pre-tax profits to £935m for the year to the end of April, selling 3,536 homes for an average price of £715,000. However, the strong rise in profit is as a result of buying up land between 2010 and 2013, when the market was on its knees after the financial crisis and competition for land was slim. Berkeley said yesterday that these sites were largely used up and profits would return to more normal levels of £500m a year by 2019. Click here for the full Times article (£) Click here for the full Telegraph article Click here for the full Guardian article Click here for the full FT article (£)