nice starting point..

Final Results

Highlights

· Significant increase in housing completions with the Group (7)responding to sustained strength in consumer demand across all areas of the country
· Private average selling price increased by 12.9% to £241,600 (2013: £213,900) driven by further changes in mix and some house price inflation
· Profit before tax more than doubled to £390.6m (2013: £192.0m before exceptional items)
· Strong cash generation resulting in net cash at 30 June 2014 of £73.1m (2013: £25.9m net debt), the first net cash position for eight years
· Continue to secure excellent land opportunities approving 21,478 plots for purchase and increased Group's controlled land supply to 4.7 years

Return on capital employed target and medium term Capital Return Plan

· ROCE up 800 basis points to 19.5% (2013: 11.5%) with new ROCE target set of at least 25% for FY17
· Ordinary dividend set at three times cover with final dividend proposed of 7.1 pence per share, giving a total ordinary dividend of 10.3 pence per share
· Special cash payment programme expected to return an incremental £400m to shareholders in the three years to FY17, with the first payment of £100m in November 2015

Outlook

· A return to more normal seasonal trends following exceptionally high levels of activity post the launch of Help to Buy in April 2013
· Private forward sales as at 7 September 2014 at £1,145.6m (2013: £880.4m) up 30.1% on the same point last year

House Prices Are Rising At 20 Times Wages
By Harvey Jones - Thursday, 18 September, 2014

Motley Fool.



We’re so used to frantic house price growth that we’ve come to see it as normal.

So when the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published figures this week showing UK house prices rose 11.7% in the last year, nobody blinked.

Crazy growth in London of 19.1% was similarly shrugged off. That’s just how London rolls these days.

On the same day, the ONS published the latest CPI inflation figure, which showed a slight dip to 1.5%.

I expected screaming headlines pointing out that house prices are now rising at eight times inflation, or almost 13 times in London.

Nobody seems to have noticed.

Wage Slaves
Here’s an even more astonishing figure. The ONS also published annual wage growth figures which showed that pay, including bonuses, rose a meagre 0.6% over the last year.

This means UK house prices are rising a mind-boggling 20 times faster than wages.

In London, the figure is almost 32 times faster.

This can only end one way.

20 Reasons Why House Prices Will Crash
Even more amazingly, most commentators in the property and mortgage industry actually welcomed the house price growth figures, claiming they were the sign of a healthy market.

I beg to differ. It is the sign of an insane market.

House prices simply can’t keep rising at 20 times wages.

Crazy Days
There is more growth to come. Estate agents and mortgage brokers are now gearing up for a hectic autumn, and they’re in a confident mood.

Lenders have embarked on yet another mortgage price war, as they battle to hit their lending targets before the end of the calendar year.

The property industry can smell blood, or rather money, and they’re not going to stop now.

Never Ending Mortgage
Worse, neither are buyers.

Instead of saying no to insane house prices, first-time buyers are stretching their repayment terms to as long as 35 or even 40 years, rather than the traditional 25-year term.

More than one in 10 existing homeowners are doing the same, according to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Yes, this can cut your monthly repayments, but there is a price to pay.

If you took out a £150,000 repayment mortgage at 3.5% over 25 years, you would pay total interest of £75,282. Over 40 years, your total interest bill would be £128,923.

That’s £53,641 more.

Mortgage Madness
As Herbert Stein’s law says: “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.”

The only question is when.

In April, the Financial Conduct Authority launched a regulatory overhaul called the Mortgage Market Review, designed to take some of the heat out of the housing market. That calmed lenders… for about a fortnight.

Bank of England measures to cut maximum loan-to-income ratios don’t appear to have slowed the beast at all.

If interest rates start rising next year, as most people assume, maybe that will put a brake on borrowing.

But even if rates do rise, and I’m not convinced they will, they will creep up only slowly. By historical standards, mortgages will remain dirt cheap.

Debt Disaster
Cheap money is the reason why house prices can outpace earnings. That makes servicing the interest much easier, but the ever-increasing amounts of capital we are borrowing to keep up must still be paid off.

No wonder household debt is going through the roof. Last year, it hit an all-time high of £1.43 trillion, according to the Bank of England.

At some point, the insane house price party will come to an end. And when it does, the hangover will be brutal. The financial crisis has taught us nothing.

Forget the BBC article today that was for August. They are behind.


House prices have finally started to fall after two years
After months of slowing house price growth, property prices have dropped in the capital, and stalled acrosss the UK

By Anna White, Property correspondent5:00AM BST 26 Sep 2014

House prices have fallen in London for the first time in nearly two years after a period of frenetic hikes in value, as demand in the capital finally dissipates.
"Modest” price drops in the London market are to be expected to follow this month's 0.1pc decline, according to the latest Hometrack report, as buyers reject inflated prices and force vendors to slash their expectations.
London suffered the most pronounced slowdown but overall the UK house prices stalled, recording zero growth for the first time in 19 months.
The combination of over-inflated prices, slow wage growth, stricter mortgage lending conditions and anxiety ahead of interest rate rises has put the brakes on the London market and stalled the housing market recovery across the majority of the country.
The only regions that enjoyed a slight uptick were Yorkshire and Humberside, the South East and the North East. The national survey by Hometrack found that values in all other areas were flat.

Demand for homes nationally fell by 2.1pc in September and the number of buyers registering with agents every month this quarter.
September normally marks a seasonal uptick in activity but the time it took to sell as home in the UK remained static from August.

“There is a distinct chill in the air this month; after a strong run over the last 18 months, the momentum of house prices rises has started to turn with growth now at a standstill for the first time since January 2013,” said Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack.
This correction, particularly in the London market, will help allay fears that prices in the capital would continue to rise uncontrollably, making the dream of homeownership unobtainable for many.

The average house price in Greater London breached the £500,000 ceiling last month, automatically imposing a 4pc stamp duty tax on families and workers across the region.
Hometrack’s new data came as a YouGov poll revealed that half of all Londoners polled believed they would flee the city if housing costs continued to climb
The study, conducted by the leading market research company for London First, a not-for-profit business lobby, warned that the capital faces a chronic housing supply crisis that could drive people away.
The majority of employees surveyed, 56pc, find it difficult to pay rent or mortgages costs and work in London.
For employees, £70,000 was the magic number to living comfortably in the city. The survey revealed that those earning over that amount found it easy to service mortgages and rents.
However, two out of five businesses surveyed said they are already concerned about the impact that London’s housing supply and costs are having on their ability to recruit and retain staff, while three quarters warned that a lack of supply and costs are a “significant risk to the capital’s economic growth.”
“London is a magnet for talent, no matter people’s background and means, is what keeps it ahead of the game,” said Baroness Jo Valentine, chief executive of London First.
“Our research lays bare the economic dangers of the housing crisis, particularly in terms of losing crucial skills of those aged 25-39, who find it the most difficult to live and work in the city.”
London should be a city for everyone with talent, not just those who can afford sky-high rent or mortgage costs, she continued.
Concerned that this dip in London’s price trajectory is temporary, she said: “We could be storing up major problems for the capital if we don’t address this. There will come a time when people will not keep travelling across counties and continents to make London the vibrant world city it is if they can only afford to live in a box or have to travel hours to get to work.”
Both these reports follow research from the property group, Savills, which came out earlier this week, and found that London had overtaken Hong Kong as the world’s most expensive cities for companies to settle in and locate employees.

Daily Telegraph.



BDEV with operating margins on 13BPS will be the first builder to feel the pinch. There margins are the lowest in the business.

Interim Management Statement

On track to deliver another significant improvement in performance

Highlights

· Market conditions remain robust across all regions of the country

· Group sales rate is strong and we are on track to deliver our target of 15,000 completions (excluding joint ventures ('JVs')) for FY15

· Net private reservations per active site per week (excluding JVs) of 0.63 (2013: 0.71) for the period, with the strength in the prior year reflecting the launch of Help to Buy in April 2013

· Private forward sales up 11.9% to £1,261.6m (2013: £1,127.4m) and JV private forward sales, which largely relate to our London business, up 49.7% to £293.1m (2013: £195.8m)

· Continued momentum on pricing driven by further mix changes, and some underlying house price inflation

· Continue to secure excellent land opportunities

FTSE promotion.

The winners

Barratt had previously been promoted to the FTSE 100 back in March this year, but was muscled out at the September review by the merger of mid caps Dixons Retail and Carphone Warehouse into the heavier-weight Dixons Carphone.

However, a 27% rise in Barratt's shares since September has put the company in line for a quick return to the top index. Despite the rise, Barratt trades on a modest forecast P/E of not much above 10 at a current price of 460p.

Taylor Wimpey's shares -- currently trading at 134p -- are up 18% since September.

The company, which was one of the hardest hit stocks during the recession, is set to rejoin the FTSE 100 after an absence of more than six years. Taylor Wimpey, too, is on a modest forecast P/E in the region of 10.

========

Peg .38

Trading Statement

Interim results Wednesday 25th February.

Half Yearly Report

First half housing completions at highest level in six years

· Completion volumes(1) increased by 12.5%

· Significant step up in the rate of site openings, with nearly 100 new sites (including JVs) opened in the half year

· Build cost pressures moderated as the supply of materials and labour increased

· Land market remains attractive with good supply of high quality new development opportunities

· Disciplined approach has increased ROCE(2) by 740 basis points to 21.6% for the 12 months to 31 December 2014

CEO to step down after nine years

Jefferies International lifts Barratt Developments to hold from underperform, target raised from 379p to 567p

Well done Jefferies - not bad seeing as the price is nearly there!!

I just posted about broker targets on the MONI thread .....seriously take some charts and prices in to an infant school and let them set targets .

My professional target view for today is 558p , oops that's exactly where it is .

Interim Management Statement

Strong market conditions - increased output levels and record forward sales

· Market conditions have remained strong throughout the period with high levels of demand for new build homes across the country

· Net private reservations per week increased to 289 (2014: 280) for the period with a sales rate of 0.74 (2014: 0.77) net private reservations per active site per week

· Housing completions for FY15 expected to be ahead of previous guidance at c. 16,100 (FY14: 14,838) (including joint ventures ('JVs'))

· Total forward sales (including JVs) up by 17.9% as at 10 May 2015 to £2,592.3m (11 May 2014: £2,199.3m)

· Launched 64 new developments in the period and expect to deliver further controlled volume growth in FY16

· Continue to secure excellent operational and strategic land opportunities across all regions which meet or exceed our minimum hurdle rates

May 26: Deutsche; Buy and raises TP to 659p

sold my recent purchase of this one for a very nice profit as sp is looking a bit toppy
i'm sure i'll be re-investing in due course, but i think the market in general could be due for some correction, especially with the summer doldrums nearly upon us

June 3: JP Morgan: Overweight - TP: 650p

Interim Management Statement

Highlights

· Total completions, including joint ventures ('JVs'), increased by 10.8% to 16,447 (2014: 14,838) reflecting strong consumer demand and increased site numbers

· Private average selling price up by c. 8% to c. £262k (2014: £241.6k), driven by further changes in mix and underlying house price inflation

· Profit before tax expected to increase by c. 45% to c. £565m (2014: £390.6m)

· Return on capital employed ('ROCE')(1) increased by c. 430 basis points to c. 23.8% (2014: 19.5%)

Final Results

Highlights
· Significant increase in housing completions with the Group4 responding to strong consumer demand across all regions
· Private average selling price increased by 8.7% to £262,500 (2014: £241,600) driven by further changes in mix and house price inflation
· Profit before tax increased by 44.8% to £565.5m (2014: £390.6m)
· ROCE up 440 basis points to 23.9% (2014: 19.5%)
· Strong cash generation resulting in net cash at 30 June 2015 of £186.5m (2014: £73.1m)
· Continued to secure excellent land opportunities, approving 16,956 plots for purchase and maintained a controlled land supply of 4.5 years
· Significant step up in the delivery of strategic land with 17% of FY15 (FY14: 10%) completions from strategically sourced land

Record cash returns
· Total FY15 capital return of £250m (2014: £102m), equating to 25.1 pence per share (2014: 10.3 pence per share)

Wrong thread CC!!! Might want to delete all of that!