Barratt Developments shares were up 1.2% to 490.4p in late morning trading on Thursday, after the company announced that it was on track to deliver total completions between 18,000 to 18,250 homes in FY2022, including around 750 houses from joint-ventures in line with management expectations.
Barratt confirmed a projected growth of 4% to 6% year-on-year for FY2022 on the back of the building firm’s home completions.
The group noted net private reservations per active outlet for each average week of 0.93 against 0.83 in 2021, alongside good progress throughout its construction activity with 362 equivalent homes built per week against 321 the previous year.
Barratt Developments confirmed a balance sheet with year-end net cash anticipated to come between £1 billion to £1.1 billion.
The housing firm said it was fully forward sold for FY2022, with total forward sales at £4.3 million on 1 May 2022, compared to £3.6 million year-on-year.
The company noted that continuing global events placed its outlook in a degree of uncertainty, due to factors including cost inflation and supply chain issues from the war in Ukraine.
However, Barratt Developments assured investors that it believed the overall strength of the housing market and the group’s operational performance, along with its strong balance sheet, would provide it with sufficient flexibility to respond to any market impacts going into 2022.
“We are seeing strong demand across the country for our high quality, energy efficient homes and our excellent operational teams are working hard to meet this demand,” said Barratt Development CEO David Thomas.
“We expect to deliver full year trading results in line with the Board’s expectations as we remain focused on growing towards our medium-term target of 20,000 homes a year, delivering high quality sustainable developments the country needs, creating jobs and supporting the economy across England, Scotland and Wales.”
“As our business grows, we remain committed to leading our industry in quality, service and sustainability.”