Amidst some housing market stability, housebuilder Barratt did avoid further land write-downs with its full-year figures. But, even after stripping out an exceptional finance hit - reflecting amended banking arrangements following November's £721m rights issue - Barratt still reported a £33m pre-tax loss.
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Admittedly, the rights issue did allow net debt to fall by £910m to £367m, and the average selling price of Barratt's homes has risen by 11 per cent. But the operating margin still looks slender at just 4.4 per cent and completions fell 14 per cent year on year to 11,377. There's still no dividend, either.
