Splash reports £18m profit

Developer Urban Splash has recorded a £14.7m increase in the value of its commercial portfolio in the year to October 2018, with profits for the period totaling £18.1m.

Chairman Tom Bloxham said: “These results are a true reflection of an excellent year for our business and gave us the perfect platform from which to take Urban Splash to the next level by expanding our modular operations.”

In May, Splash sold a 35% stake in its modular homes business House to Japanese housebuilder Sekisui, simultaneously securing a £30m investment from Homes England to facilitate the upscaling of modular production.

The results predate the May deals, but cover the period in which Splash laid the foundations for that deal with the March 2018 acquisition of its modular homes factory from previous supplier SIG.

The profit figure reflects an increase on the previous year’s profit of £6.5m, due in large part to revaluation of the commercial portfolio. Turnover went from £19.1m to £36.3m, with the completion of Irwell Riverside a key factor. Cash has been recycled into development projects, with the business stating its cash balances at £14.6m, down from £17.3m year on year.

Bloxham continued: “Last year was a period of hard work, ambitious and fast acquisitions, including the vertical integration of our own modular housing facility, and of course much celebration as we marked our silver anniversary.

The financial period also covered starts on site on House projects at Port Loop in Birmingham and Campbell Park in Milton Keynes, while refurbishment works were carried out or started at Tea Factory and Vanilla Factory in Liverpool. Crabtree Lane Indistrial Estte in Openshaw, East Manchester, was acquired in the period.

Cash reserves of £14.6m were recorded in the results, with Splash reporting a forward pipeline of more than 3,000 homes.