Barratt Developments (BDEV) provided further evidence that the UK housebuilding sector remains in rude health with another strong set of results for the year to June. Equally important, trading in the wake of the referendum shows no sign of slowing, with private net reservations per week up from 0.71 to 0.75 per active site, with total forward sales up 4.1 per cent at £2.4bn.
Net cash jumped from £187m to £592m, and as well as proposing a special dividend of 12.4p a share, it reiterated a proposal to pay a further special dividend in November 2017 of around 17.4 p a share. On Peel Hunt estimates, this equates to a dividend yield for the year to June 2017 of a sector-leading 7.4 per cent.
Completions in the year to June rose by 5.3 per cent to 17,319, the best for eight years, while the average selling price on private homes rose 10.4 per cent to £289,800. Efficient use of working capital and the use of deferred payment terms also contributed to a rise in return on capital employed from 23.9 per cent to 27.1 per cent.
Analysts at Peel Hunt are forecasting adjusted pre-tax profits of £724m for the year to June 2017 and EPS of 58.4p (from £680m and 54.8p in 2016).
| BARRATT DEVELOPMENTS (BDEV) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 499p | MARKET VALUE: | £5.01bn | |
| TOUCH: | 499-499.6p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 663p | LOW: 326p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.7% | PE RATIO: | 9 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 399p** | NET CASH: | £592m | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p*) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 2.33 | 100 | 7.0 | nil |
| 2013 | 2.61 | 105 | 7.7 | 2.5 |
| 2014 | 3.16 | 391 | 31.2 | 10.3 |
| 2015 | 3.76 | 566 | 45.5 | 15.1 |
| 2016 | 4.24 | 682 | 55.1 | 18.3 |
| % change | +13 | +21 | +21 | +21 |
Ex-div: 27 Oct Payment: 21 Nov *Excludes special dividend of 10p a share in 2015 and 12.4p in 2016 **Includes intangible assets of £892m, or 89p a share | ||||
