Vistry’s revenue has overtaken pre-pandemic figures, as the housebuilder pulled in £1.26bn in the first half of 2021.
Revenue rose by 4.3% on the pro forma figures for H1 2019, while the total number of homes completed rose by 5% to 5,351. The number of homes completed by partnerships has also leapt since before the pandemic, with a 30% increase to 2,225.
However, affordable housing completions were markedly down, by 29% to 832.
Chief executive Greg Fitzgerald said the results were “a step change in financial performance” compared with last year, adding that it would be paying an interim dividend of 20p per share.
The group said it had made a £166m adjusted pretax profit, far in excess of H1 2020’s £10.3m, and ahead of market expectations. Profit margin rose to 21.8% from 14.1%.
The group’s forward sales were also up, at £3bn compared with last September’s £2.7bn, with 96% of all 2021’s completions already sold.
The group also reported a net cash position of £31.6m as at 30 June 2021, a significant turnaround from its net debt position of £357.3m in June 2020.
Vistry’s return on capital employed increased to 19.4% in the first half, up from 14.4% for the whole of 2020, with partnerships achieving a more than 40% return.
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