Berkeley Group (BKG) has unveiled plans to almost double its proposed capital returns to shareholders over the next two years, committing to pay out £1bn via two B-share scheme issues of £500m each in March 2020 and March 2021.
Following this, the group intends to revert to its regular yearly returns of £280m a year, via biannual instalments of £140m through either share buy-backs or dividends.
Management said starting construction on 20 new sites - which will increase its annual housing delivery (including in its joint ventures) by as much as 50 per cent over the next six years - had given it a better idea of its cash management and development commitments.
Including trading since last May, the group is hoping to deliver £3.3bn of pre-tax profit in the six years to April 2025, with the figure ranging between £500m and £700m, depending upon the timing projects are completed. However, that is down from a peak of £977m in 2019, reflecting a well-flagged decline in house sales and the completion of several major projects.