Barratt Developments has returned to pre-pandemic form, with revenue 1% higher than in 2019.
Total revenue for the year to 30 June 2021 was £4.8bn, up 41% on last year’s £3.4bn and marginally higher than 2019’s £4.76bn.
Barratt also saw completions return to 2019 levels, with 17,243 homes over the past year. Completions were 36.8% up from 2020’s 12,604 homes, but more vitally just 3.4% down on 2019’s total of 17,856.
Pretax profit, however, continued to suffer, down 10.7% on 2019 at £812m, as operating margin fell from 18.9% in 2019 to 16.9%. But that was a marked improvement on last year, when profit was £492m and margin 14.4%. Much of the drag on profit was due to continued Covid-related costs.
Financially the developer is in a good place, with £1.3bn in cash at its disposal, a 300% increase on last year and 72% increase on 2019.
The company said forward sales were also in a “strong” position, as at 22 August 2021, with 15,734 homes and a value of £3.94bn. Last year’s forward sales were 15,660 homes valued at £3.7bn, while 2019’s were just 13,064 homes, with a value of £3bn.
Barratt boss David Thomas said: “We have begun the new financial year in a strong position and, whilst there are still uncertainties ahead, our strong balance sheet, forward order book visibility and construction activity to date all stand us in good stead.”
He added that Barratt was well-placed to achieve its medium-term target of increasing completions to 20,000 homes a year.
The company will also be handing out a final ordinary dividend per share of 21.9p, higher than 2019’s 19.5p. Last year the final dividend was scrapped.
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