Bovis’ first half ‘in line with expectations’

Bovis Homes has said its performance for the first half of the year is “in line with management expectations” as it saw a 5.6% fall in unit completions to 1,512. The housebuilder announced in February that it would slow its rate of production for 2017. In a trading statement this morning it said it continued to expect to deliver completion volumes for the full year at around 10-15% below the 2016 level. In the six months to 30 June 2017 it delivered 1,512 units, down from 1,601 in 2016. The group said its sales rate of 0.48 (2016: 0.62) net private reservations per site per week in the half-year was in line with its 2017 production plans and reflected a “controlled sales release” across a number of its developments and a “priority focus on customer service”. Bovis said it continues to see an improvement in its average selling price, increasing by around 9% in the first half, to circa £277,000 (2016: £255,000).  This increase has been driven by changes in mix and a modest increase in average underlying prices, the housebuilder said. Chief executive Greg Fitzgerald said: “The trading performance in the first half of our financial year is in line with management expectations. In the past 11 weeks I have spent a good amount of time with each of our operating regions, visited 85 sites and met the vast majority of our people. We continue to identify and implement operational improvements and I am very confident we can deliver a successful turnaround, returning Bovis Homes to being a leading UK housebuilder.  I look forward to providing an update on the group’s strategy with the presentation of our half-year results in September.” To send feedback, e-mail Louisa.Clarence-Smith@egi.co.uk or tweet @LouisaClarence or @estatesgazette