Shares in Barratt Developments PLC (LSE:BDEV) dropped as Britain's leading housebuilder failed to meet its guidance for full-year home completions, although the company said profit before tax (PBT) is set to come in slightly ahead of market estimates.
In its trading update for the year ended 30 June 2022, Barratt said home completions totalled 17,908 units, up from 17,243 the year before but below the 18,000-18,250 range forecast in February.
The company attributed the lower-than-predicted number to deferral into fiscal 2023 of a London apartment block comprising 221 homes, due to "resource-related delays in the building control process".
Completions were ahead of the 17,856 homes completed in pre-pandemic 2019.
“We are delighted that completions have now returned to pre-pandemic levels and I am grateful for the hard work and dedication of our teams and partners over the past two years to achieve this important milestone,” commented chief executive David Thomas.
Looking ahead, Barratt confirmed that it expects to grow total home completions in line with its medium-term growth target of 3%-5%, based on current market conditions and assuming no material disruption to its supply chain.
The company said it expects to report adjusted PBT between £1.05bn and £1.06bn for the year to 30 June, up nearly 10% from the comparative period the prior year and slightly above market forecasts of £1.048bn.
Housing demand was sustained, resulting in net private reservations per active outlet per week of 0.81, up 0.03 percentage points.
"We have delivered an excellent performance this year, reflecting the strong customer demand for our homes and the productivity of our sites,” said Thomas.
Meanwhile, an average of 352 equivalent homes were built per week in the year, up 13%.
Barratt continued venturing into the green energy space, with the launch of its zero carbon concept home.
It remained financially strong with net cash of £1.13bn, although this was down from £1.32bn compared with the previous full year.
Barratt stayed well positioned for the upcoming year, with total forward sales of 13,579 homes being lower than 2021’s full-year of 14,334, but the value of those revenues increased by 4% to £3.62bn.
The housing developer advanced pay by 5% from April, with a further temporary salary supplement of £1,000 to all employees below senior management, phased over the six months to 31 December 2022.
Shares were down 1.16% at 459.80p midmorning, having hit a low of 445.50p earlier.