Housebuilder Berkeley Group defies Brexit jitters with ‘robust’ London performance
Housebuilder Berkeley Group has enjoyed a period of “robust” market conditions in London and the south east of England, despite a weak sector backdrop driven by Brexit uncertainty.
The London-listed firm said forward sales remained above £1.8bn and set a pre-tax profit target of £3.3bn for the next six years. Profit should be between £500m and £700m per year over the period, it said.
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Despite troubles in the sector, Berkeley maintained in a trading update this morning that there is “good underlying demand for new homes built to a high quality that are well located and properly priced to meet the local housing need, supported by good availability of mortgages”.
“In the first four months of this new financial year, market conditions in London and the south east have remained robust and consistent with those reported with the full year results in June.
“The wider market remains constrained by high transaction costs and the uncertainty in the macro political and economic environment.”
Berkeley said half-year net cash would be at a similar level to its full-year position of £975m reported earlier in the summer.
“While very mindful of the potential for short-term market dislocations from the current political back-drop, we remain steadfast in our belief in the long-term resilience and attraction of our markets of London, Birmingham and the south east.
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“We continue to work with our supply chain to assess and address the risks associated with disruptive Brexit to the extent this is possible, including accelerating the delivery of certain materials and components.”
The housebuilder maintained the 20.08p a share dividend to shareholders announced in June.
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