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Vistry Group PLC on Thursday said its performance for the first half of the year was in line with its expectations, but housebuilding performance was hurt by higher mortgage costs. The Kent-based housebuilder said in the first six months of 2023, total group sales were £4.19 billion, up 58% from £2.66 billion the year before. Vistry added that its average weekly sales rate for the first half of the year was 0.86, up by 2.4% from 0.84 the year before. However, the company said its housebuilding business was impacted by higher mortgage rates, with sales falling by 9.7% to £1.21 billion from £1.34 billion year-on-year. Meanwhile, housebuilding completions were down by 22% in the six months to June 30 to 2,847 completions from 3,219 completions the year before. This delivered an adjusted revenue of around £810 million, down 10% from £902 million in the first half of 2022. Vistry also said it is on track to deliver £25 million of synergies from the integration of its countryside partnerships. Looking ahead, Vistry has a strong order book totalling £3.0 billion, and is well-positioned to meet demand levels for mixed tenure housing. The company added it is focused on delivering a 10% revenue growth in 2024. Vistry’s pretax profit expectation for 2023 remains unchanged at more than £450 million. Chief Executive Officer Greg Fitzgerald said: ‘The group delivered a half year performance in line with our expectations, despite the challenging macroeconomic conditions and higher interest rate environment. Partnerships is demonstrating its resilience and remains on track to deliver revenue growth in the full year. Housebuilding is maintaining a controlled and disciplined approach, taking the opportunity to deliver bulk sales to support overall sales rates and open market pricing.’ Shares in Vistry were up 1.8% at 805.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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