Redrow has posted what its chairman described as the “worst set of trading results in the company’s history” today, reporting a pretax loss of £140.8m (2008: £193.9m).
In the year to 30 June, the housebuilder reported a drop of 46% in completions, down to 2,113.
Redrow said that the decline had been driven by volume and price reduction in the housing market.
The group also had exceptional charges of £96.6m, due to the group restructuring and a land review.
The number of plots with planning permission reduced from 14,900 to 12,500 in the period and Redrow said its land team was not “fully engaged in considering new opportunities”.
Chairman Steve Morgan, who rejoined the business in March, said the company was now in a good position to “invest carefully and strategically enhance” its land bank but warned that the company would keep the “capital structure under review”.
He said: “While I am delighted to be back at the helm of Redrow it is intensely disappointing to me to have to report the worst set of trading results in the company’s history.
“I am determined to ensure that this will not be repeated and, along with the rest of the management team, am clearly focused on steering the business back to delivering the sort of robust performance that it has delivered in the past.
“Clearly the results we are announcing today come on the back of a downturn in the homebuilding industry unlike any other in recent history.
“Our immediate task is to rebuild our margins and return to profitability. I am confident that the actions we have taken in reviewing our product and land bank are the first steps on this road.”
Redrow has been rumoured to be preparing a rights issue of up to £100m, to pay back some of it £214.6m debt and to consider new land deals.
In its results, the housebuilder also announced it was launching a New Heritage Collection, with a historical architectural theme and more spacious open-plan interiors.
