Redrow on a high as Morgan bows out
North Wales housebuilder Redrow has reported pre-tax profit of £185m and turnover up 9% to £970m in its interim results, the last to be overseen by departing chairman Steve Morgan.
Both the group revenue and first-half profit figures are reported as records for Redrow, as is its order book, which is up by 11% to £1.162bn. Legal completions climbed 12% to 2,970 in a period that saw the business deliver its 100,000th home. Current land holdings stand at 27,500 plots.
Morgan said: “In this, my final report as chairman, it gives me great pleasure to announce that Redrow has once again delivered record results for the first half of the financial year.
“The market during the run up to the festive period and the first two weeks of 2019 was subdued by macroeconomic and political uncertainty. However, sales over the last three weeks have bounced back with reservations running at similar levels to last year’s strong market activity.”
Although the figures for the first five weeks of the year are down on 2018, from £166m to £156m, Morgan said he has “every confidence” of another year of significant progress under incoming chairman John Tutte. The company has proposed a 30p per share cash return to shareholders through a B Share Scheme, in addition to a 10p per share interim dividend.
Morgan is to step down in March from the company he founded in 1974. He left the business in 2000, returning in 2009 following the financial downturn. He has also been a high profile figure in sport, first exploring a takeover of Liverpool FC before buying Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2007, selling out in 2016.
The country’s largest housebuilder Barratt has also today posted strong interim results, with pre-tax profit up 19.1% to £408m. Barratt completed 7,622 homes in the six-month period.
