Exceptional items prevent Barratt's return to profit

14th Sep 2011 07:12

House builder Barratt Developments claimed it made considerable progress last year, and though it remained in the red, it reported a narrowed pre-tax loss and would have been profitable but for exceptional costs.Revenue remained on a par with last year at £2,035.4m (2010: £2,035.2m). Loss before tax narrowed to £11.5m from £162.9m last year. Exceptional costs in the year to 30 June more than halved to £54.2m from £129.9m the year before, so with these excluded the company would have made a profit of £42.7m, ahead of the £40.2m and £40m predicted respectively by brokers Panmure Gordon and Peel Hunt.Net tangible asset value per share hardened to 211p at the end of June 2011 from 208p at 30 June 2010, ahead of Panmure Gordon's forecast of 209p but below Peel Hunt's prediction of 213p.Chief executive Mark Clare said: "The outlook for the housing market remains challenging as a result of continuing constraints on the availability of mortgage finance and overall economic uncertainty. "We have achieved a 50% increase in profit from operations before operating exceptional items, agreed terms on 8,861 plots of land, were awarded HBF Five Star status for a second consecutive year, and refinanced our business until 2015." The total number of full completions fell slightly from 11,377 to 11,171 for the year. The average selling price of private dwellings was up 7.4% on the previous year at £198,900 as the company altered the mix of homes being built.Net debt at the end of June stood at £322.6m, down from £366.9m a year earlier.The group was keen to emphasise a promising start to the current financial year, and said: "For the first 11 weeks of our current financial year, we achieved average net private reservations of 183 per week, 10.2% above the same period last year. On a per active site basis this equates to a private sales rate of 0.49 (2010 equivalent period: 0.48)." The group is not paying a dividend. However, the board remains committed to reinstating the payment of dividends when it is appropriate to do so.NR