nice starting point..

In the Sunday Mail today - Barratt Developments which closed at 239.5p will reveal interim results on Wednesday but is set to report a pre-tax profit for the year down slightly on 2011's £110m.

Wednesday preview: Barratt Developments expects double profits
Tue 26 Feb 2013


LONDON (SHARECAST) - House-builder Barratt Developments is expected to reveal on Wednesday double-digit pre-tax profits for the last half of 2012.

In a trading update last month, the company said it anticipates profit before tax of £45m and revenues to remain unchanged at £950m.

Group operating profit is pegged at £80m, up by 31% on the prior year.

Net debt at the end of the year was £332m, down sharply £542.2m in the year before.

Chief Executive Mark Clare said: "This has been a good first half performance. Pre-tax profit has more than doubled, net debt was significantly lower than the prior year, and we have started the second half with a strong private forward order book up by over 35%.

"In addition, we have been investing for the future, successfully securing higher margin land both in the South-East and across the rest of the country that will drive further profit growth."

The group benefited from the UK’s NewBuy and FirstBuy mortgage schemes during the Autumn which provides aid to new homeowners.

At time of the announcement, Jefferies reiterated its ‘buy’ rating and a price target of 250p.

“The key risk, in our view, is a deterioration in mortgage availability,” the broker said.

“However, we expect mortgage supply to remain stable for the foreseeable future and initiatives such as NewBuy and FirstBuy to protect the group, in part, from any shocks in the market; so far, the funding for the lending scheme appears to be helping thaw mortgage supply across all loan to value bands

Half Yearly Report

113% increase in pre-tax profit

First half highlights

· Group revenues of £951.1m (2011: £952.8m) and completions of 5,085 units (2011: 5,117 units)

· Private completions increased by 5.3% on the prior year to 4,241 units (2011: 4,028 units)

· Profit from operations up 32.2% at £80.8m (2011: £61.1m), with operating margin increasing to 8.5% (2011: 6.4%)

· Profit before tax increased by 113.4% on the prior year to £46.1m (2011: £21.6m)

· Significant increase in approvals to acquire higher margin land, with £453.0m of land acquisitions approved in the period equating to 9,320 plots on 67 sites

· Net debt as at 31 December 2012 was £331.7m (31 December 2011: £542.2m) and is forecast to be around £160m at 30 June 2013 (30 June 2012: £167.7m)



Outlook

· Strong start to the second half with the Group delivering 0.64 (FY12: 0.61) net private reservations per active site per week (excluding joint ventures)

· Private forward sales (excluding joint ventures) as at 24 February 2013 up by 34.0% to £897.7m (26 February 2012: £669.9m)

· Joint venture private forward sales as at 24 February 2013 up by 231.0% to £80.1m (26 February 2012: £24.2m)

· The Board expects to propose a final dividend for the year ended 30 June 2013

· The Board has targets of achieving zero net debt as at 30 June 2015, a dividend cover of around three times for the year ended 30 June 2016 and a substantial improvement in return on capital employed in the medium term

Sold my holding in at 95p Nov 11

JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral 269.80 267.60 200.00 250.00 Upgrades

HSBC Overweight 267.10 267.40 241.00 355.00 Retains

Interim Management Statement

Highlights

· 9.7% increase in net private reservations to 0.68 (2012: 0.62) per week per active site

· 18.0% uplift on the prior year in net private reservations per week per active site to 0.72 (2012: 0.61) following the announcement of the Government's Help to Buy scheme

· Private ASP up c. 4% on completions in the period, with a higher rate of increase expected for the second half as a whole, driven by changes in mix

· Private forward sales (excluding joint ventures) up 28.5% as at 5 May 2013 to £1,013.5m (6 May 2012: £788.6m)

· Good progress made with our land investment strategy and expect to approve the purchase of c. 17,000 plots in FY13 (FY12: 12,085 plots), with attractive opportunities continuing to be available

· Net debt guidance reduced to c. £100m for 30 June 2013 (30 June 2012: £167.7m), reflecting the timing of land payments and control of working capital

· Over the next three years the Group intends to recruit around 600 graduates and apprentices, designed to tackle the skills shortage that could constrain future growth prospects of the industry

Numis Hold 316.95 - 320.00 Retains

Jefferies: Reiterates: Buy - TP held at 385p

Deutsche Bank Buy 306.95 336.00 336.00 Reiterates

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Neutral 306.95 265.00 325.00 Downgrades

Agrees a comprehensive refinancing package

Barratt Developments PLC (the 'Group') announces that it has reached separate agreements for a comprehensive refinancing package and the monetisation of a portion of the Group's shared equity portfolio.

Highlights
· Committed borrowing facilities of c. £850m at attractive terms, with maturities ranging from 2016 to 2021

· Early repayment of historic high cost private placement notes

· Cancellation of interest rate swaps

· Reduction of underlying average interest rate to c. 4.5%

· Raised £34m by monetising part of its shared equity portfolio

· Maintains guidance of zero net debt as at 30 June 2015

Commenting, David Thomas, Group Finance Director of Barratt Developments said:

"We are delighted to have agreed this comprehensive refinancing package ahead of schedule which will provide us with more appropriate lending facilities, in terms of both interest cost and duration. It reflects our improved financial position and the significant progress we've made towards our target of zero net debt as at 30 June 2015.

The monetisation of the shared equity portfolio is in line with our strategy and represents another self-help measure to improve profitability, reduce net debt and increase return on capital employed. The fact that we've been able to conclude this deal now is further evidence of the improving outlook for the sector."

Trading Statement

Highlights

· Sales rate up 17.9% in the second half on the prior year, with average net private reservations per active site per week of 0.66. Sales rate up by 34.7% since the launch of Help to Buy in April

· Total completions, including joint ventures, of 13,663 for the full year, with private completions up by 16.1% in the second half on the prior year

· Private average selling price ('ASP') up by c. 9% in the second half on the prior year to c. £221k reflecting changes in mix

· Operating margin expected to increase to c. 10.4% in the second half and c. 9.7% for the full year, up from 8.2% in the prior full year

· Profit before tax and exceptional items for the full year expected to be c. £192m, ahead of the top end of analysts' expectations

· Strong momentum reflected in the forward order book, with total forward sales up 53.6% to £829.7m as at 30 June 2013

· The Group had a modest net debt position as at 30 June 2013 of c. £30m (2012: £167.7m), significantly lower than prior guidance reflecting a higher number of completions and the timing benefit of land payments

· The Group continues to see good opportunities in the land market and has increased its rate of acquisition, approving 18,536 plots (2012: 12,085 plots) in the full year

Barratt accelerates investment in London - 1,100 new homes for the capital announced

Barratt today announces an expansion of its London business with confirmation that two further joint ventures ('JVs') would bring the gross development value ('GDV') of the Group's JVs in the capital to over £2.0 bn.

The two new JVs taken together would bring a total of c.1,100 much needed new homes for London and Barratt confirmed that it was now targeting 2,000 completions per year from its London business in the medium term.

In their first major partnership, British Land and Barratt London have secured planning permission for 463 homes, a 160 room hotel, retail and office space at Aldgate Place on the edge of the City. The development, which is adjacent to the Barratt London Alie Street site, will include three towers of over 20 storeys as well as public open space and a pedestrian street. It will have a GDV of around £250m and work is scheduled to start early in 2014.

Barratt London has also confirmed that it is progressing a further JV with L&Q, to develop the Sainsbury's site at Nine Elms. The site has GDV of £425m with a detailed planning permission for 645 homes, a new Sainsbury's store and c. 27,000 sq. ft. of retail and office space. This will be the Group's fourth JV in London with L&Q.

When speaking at the Company's analyst briefing on its London business Mark Clare, Group Chief Executive, will say: "Our Barratt London business is expanding fast and we are now working on £2 bn of new developments with four JV partners - British Land, L&Q, Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing and Metropolitan Housing. We are planning to deliver 2,000 new homes a year in London and our technical capability to deliver complex schemes in the capital is providing us with a competitive edge in securing new business."

Bought back in earlier today hoping to see some recovery tomorrow.

Not bad start already -

http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/columns/trader-talk/13862/barratt-developments-to-benefit-from-london-exposure-13862.html

Final Results 11-Sep-2013

Final Results

Full year highlights
· Group revenues up by 12.2% for the full year to £2,606.2m (2012: £2,323.4m), with completions (including joint ventures) of 13,663 units (2012: 12,857 units)

· Average selling prices(1) increased to £194,800 (2012: £180,500) with private average selling prices increasing by 6.0% to £213,900 (2012: £201,800)

· Group operating profit before operating exceptional items for the full year up by 32.2% to £252.7m (2012: £191.1m)(2)

· Operating margin(3) increased to 10.4% (2012: 9.5%) in the second half and to 9.7% for the full year, up from 8.2% in the prior full year

· Profit before tax and exceptional items increased by 73.7% to £192.3m (2012: £110.7m)(4)

· Net debt at 30 June 2013 significantly reduced to £25.9m (2012: £167.7m)

Outlook
· Very strong start to the new financial year with a 29.4% increase in average net private reservations per week per active site for the first ten weeks compared with the same period last year

· Private forward sales up 44.4% to £880.4m as at 8 September 2013 (9 September 2012: £609.6m)

· Continue to see good opportunities in the land market that meet our minimum hurdle rates of 20% gross margin and 25% return on capital employed ('ROCE')

· Group has outperformed on its target to reduce indebtedness and going forward expects to maintain an appropriate capital structure

· Focus on driving significant improvement in ROCE with an 18% ROCE target set for FY16

· The Board is proposing a final dividend of 2.5 pence per share payable in November and is adopting a progressive dividend policy with a target of three times dividend cover for FY16

JP Morgan Cazenove Neutral 317.10 317.10 360.00 - Reiterates

Citigroup Neutral 317.10 317.10 315.00 330.00 Reiterates

Deutsche Bank Buy 317.10 317.10 365.00 365.00 Reiterates

Beaufort Securities Hold 317.10 317.10 - - Retains