The chief executive of Henry Boot says the government’s investment in the regions bodes well for its business, after delivering a set of annual results that showed how hard the group was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Revenue for 2020 stood at £222.4m, down by 41% on 2019. Steep falls in property investment and development as well as land promotion due to the pandemic more than wiped out a nudge upwards in construction revenue. The company’s pretax profit dropped by two-thirds to £17.1m, with the sharpest divisional fall in investment and development, and the smallest in construction. NAV was down slightly at 235p per share, compared with 239p a year ago.
Chief executive Tim Roberts said the company would now redouble its focus on three key areas of business: industrial and logistics, residential, and urban development. “These markets are driven by positive long-term structural trends which we expect to give momentum to our future operational and financial performance,” he said.
Roberts added: “We also have a good record of serving public sector clients in key regional construction areas, at a time when the government is looking to invest money in the regions.”
The land promotion business, Hallam Land Management, sold 2,000 plots over the course of the year, at an average sale price of £6,456 per plot. It secured new planning consents for 2,708 plots, lifting its consented portfolio to 15,421 plots at year-end.
Henry Boot Developments completed on developments with a GDV of £58m, £41m of the schemes having been sold and £17m let and retained in its investment portfolio. The construction arm posted a profit ahead of expectations, with a marked recovery during the second half of the year.
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