nice starting point..

StockMarketWire.com
Barratt Developments posted pre-tax profits of £342.7m for the six month to the end of December, up 6.8% on the prior year period while total completions rose 2% to 7,324 plots.

The group said it intends to pay special dividends of £175m in November 2018 and £175m in November 2019.

The group said its net private reservation rate was 0.68 per active outlet per week in the half year period, unchanged compared to the prior year period. ROCE increased by 1.3 ppts to 28.3%.

During the period, the group operated from an average of 376 outlets (including JV's) and reported progress on new site openings, launching 93 new outlets (including JV's) in the half year.

Total forward sales (including JV's) as at 18 February 2018 were up 2.0% on the strong prior year at a £3,077.9m.

The hombuilder said it expects to grow volumes modestly and improve margin improvements through land acquisition and operational efficiencies but recognise that the continued headwinds in the high end central London market may dilute some of these percentage margin improvements. David Thomas, Chief Executive of Barratt Developments PLC said: 'With good consumer demand, a healthy forward order book and a robust balance sheet, overall we have had a strong first half and we continue to deliver against our operational and financial objectives.'

'As the UK's largest housebuilder, we enter our 60th year increasing our housing output, creating jobs and supporting economic growth across the country.'

'Having built more than 450,000 homes since 1958, Barratt remains focused on quality, design and industry-leading customer service while delivering homes the country needs.'

Barratt Developments books record profits as house prices jump
StockMarketWire.com
UK housebuilder Barratt Developments said Wednesday annual profits rose to a record owing to rising house prices.

For the year ended 30 June, profit before tax rose 9.2% to £835.5m and revenue rose 4.8% to £4.87bn.

The company attributed the growth in profit to a 5% rise in its average selling price to £288,900 from £275,200 seen in the previous year.

'Completions in our London business were ahead of expectations, with particularly strong final quarter Central London trading, resulting in a higher average selling price in the second half,' the company said.

Barratts housebuilding volumes came in at 17,579, up just 1.06% from 17,395 the previous year.

Forward sales, including joint ventures, came to £3.05bn on 2 September 2017, up 11.1% from last year.

Barratt also announced a 4.7% increase in its final dividend to 17.9p, and a special dividend of 17.3p a share.

In sign of confidence in the business, the company said it expected to grow volumes between 3% to 5% a year, acquire land at an increased minimum of 23% gross margin and maintain return on capital employed at a minimum of 25% over the medium term.

'The Group has had another outstanding year delivering a strong operational and financial performance, and our highest volumes in a decade,' the company said. 'The Group is well positioned to continue to improve its performance in future years'.

Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

The largest faller of the builders 490.90 -64.30 -11.58%

but more than half 35.2 pence is X-dividend - ( final dividend to 17.9p, and a special dividend of 17.3p a share.)

Barratt Developments first-half profit up 19% as margins improve
StockMarketWire.com
House builder Barratt Developments booked a 19% rise in first-half profit as it completed more homes and strengthened its margins.

Pre-tax profit for the six months through December rose to £408.0m, as revenue climbed 7.2% to £2.13bn.

The company declared an interim dividend of 9.6p per share, up 11.6% on-year.

Total completions rose 4.1% to 7,622, while gross margin expanded by 200 basis points to 22.6%.

Net private reservations, however, dropped to 0.64 per active outlet per week, down from 0.68 on-year.

'The group has delivered a strong operational and financial performance across the half year,' chief executive David Thomas said.

'Whilst we continue to monitor market conditions closely, current trading is in line with our expectations and we are confident of delivering a good financial and operational performance in the full year.'



At 8:14am: (LON:BDEV) Barratt Developments PLC share price was +10.3p at 556.7p


Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

Another cracking chart Fred.

I hope it doesn't.

8-)

These builders have caught me on the hop since the start of the year.

I think there may be some shaky times ahead, before another recovery.