Irish housebuilder Cairn Homes (CRN) has been playing catch-up to more established housebuilders in an explosive fashion, with turnover jumping over 700 per cent in the past two years. All the important metrics have sparkled, with operating margins in the year to December 2018 up from 9.7 per cent to 15.8 per cent, while the previous year’s cash outflow of €128.6m (£110m) was turned into cash generation of €40.1m.
And shareholders can look forward to a maiden half-year dividend of 2.5¢ in September this year, subject to court approval of its capital reorganisation, which will involve reducing its share premium account by €550m which will be treated as realised profits.
A total of 804 units were sold, and the company is currently active on 12 sites that will deliver around 4,400 new homes. And in the face of strong demand, Cairn will start work on four multi-family private rental schemes in and around Dublin. It has also signed its second investment agreement with the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) to build over 550 new homes on a site adjoining its own Parkside development.
Activity in the new financial year has been encouraging, with the forward sales pipeline of €201.4m, comprising 471 units with an average selling price of €428,000. Growth opportunities are significant, with medium-term annual demand for new homes set at 35,000 units, compared with current output of just 18,072.
| CAIRN HOMES (CRN) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 130¢ | MARKET VALUE: | €1.03bn | |
| TOUCH: | 129-130¢ | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 190¢ | LOW: 103¢ |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | NIL | PE RATIO: | 33 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 96¢ | NET DEBT | 18% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (€m) | Pre-tax profit (€m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
| 2015* | 3.7 | -37.5 | -15.9 | nil |
| 2016 | 40.9 | -2.8 | -0.3 | nil |
| 2017 | 149 | 6.0 | 0.6 | nil |
| 2018 | 337 | 37.6 | 4.0 | nil |
| % change | +125 | +530 | +567 | - |
| Ex-div: | - | |||
| Payment: | - | |||
| * From incorporation in 12 Nov 2014 to 31 Dec 2015 £1=€1.165 | ||||
