Bovis (BVS) plans to build 25 per cent more homes this year than it did last year, as demand for new homes accelerates following the introduction of the Help to Buy scheme. Indeed, private reservations in the first 32 weeks of the year jumped 43 per cent to 1,712 homes, and net weekly private reservations per site grew 28 per cent to 0.59 units in the first half.
A continued change in the product mix lifted first-half average selling prices by 15 per cent to £188,500, and legal completions rose from 944 to 963. Excluding land sales, operating margins rose from 8.7 per cent to 11.1 per cent, which chief executive David Ritchie reckons could climb to near 15 per cent by the year-end. In addition, the return on capital employed is expected to rise from 7.7 per cent to at least 10 per cent this year. So to meet the increase in demand, 2,767 consented plots were added to the land bank at a cost of £166m, taking the number of consented plots up to 15,579.
Analysts at Peel Hunt are forecasting full-year adjusted pre-tax profits of £75m and EPS of 43.6p (from £54.1m and 30.7p in 2012), rising to £98m and 57.8p in 2014.
| BOVIS (BVS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 786p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.05bn | |
| TOUCH: | 785-786p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 859p | LOW: 471p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.3% | PE RATIO: | 24 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 574p | NET DEBT: | 6% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 170 | 15.6 | 8.6 | 3.00 |
| 2013 | 184 | 18.6 | 10.8 | 4.00 |
| % change | +8 | +19 | +26 | +33 |
Ex-div: 25 Sep Payment: 22 Nov | ||||
