Strong demand for housing in London outside the West End hot spots shows no sign of slowing, and east London focused Telford Homes (TEF) now expects its performance for the year to March to exceed earlier expectations. Accordingly, analysts at Peel Hunt have raised their pre-tax profits estimate by 6 per cent to around £25m.
Telford's impressive run has continued, with contracts exchanged on 661 properties, up 28 per cent from a year earlier, while average sale prices rose from £400,000 to £459,000. Crucially, cost inflation has been less than Telford budgeted for and, together with some commercial property sales, operating margins are expected to have risen from the previous year's 17.1 per cent.
Despite the proximity of the general election, demand remains robust. In Manhattan Plaza, located close to Canary Wharf and the planned Crossrail station, over half the 120 open market apartments were pre-sold in two weeks. And the group's Town Apartments in Kentish Town saw all the 15 homes sold in a single weekend.
The forward order book is currently over £1bn, of which half is pre-sold. So, long-term earnings visibility is being enhanced by the deposits taken in. Open market homes for completion in the year to March 2016 are already 93 per cent sold.
