House builder Berkeley Group (BKG) is due to pay out 59p a share in dividends on 27 September, and remains on target to meet its first milestone to return £568m to shareholders by September 2015, which equates to a further 360p a share over the next two years. This is part of an overall strategy to return a total of £13 a share by 2021.
Strong trading boosted sales in the four months to the end of August, and forward sales now exceed £1.5bn. To meet the increase in demand, Berkeley has added three sites to its land bank including a 10 acre site in White City and a site in Battersea with existing detailed planning consent for 456 apartments, as well as a consented site in West Sussex for 69 new homes. Potential gross margins from the existing land bank are expected to grow to around £3bn by the end of the year.
The group has also tidied up its balance sheet with the disposal to fund management group M&G of 534 rental properties for £105.4m, boosting cash flow and leaving the group debt free.
