Barratt Developments, one of the UK’s largest residential property development businesses, announced that its full year outlook is modestly above its previous expectations.
From 01 January to 05 May, total forward sales amounted to £3.37 billion, up 2.4% compared to the £3.29 billion figure from last year.
Barratt Developments, who has been awarded the Home Builder Federation’s maximum 5 Star customer satisfaction rating for ten consecutive years, said that it has made good progress on medium term targets.
The business delivered a strong performance since the beginning of the current calendar year, driven by a good customer demand and a stable market backdrop.
“This has been another strong period for the Group. As Britain’s largest housebuilder we remain firmly committed to delivering industry-leading build quality and customer service and we are proud to have been awarded 5 stars for customer satisfaction for ten years in a row,” David Thomas, Chief Executive, commented on the results.
“Trading since the beginning of the year has been strong, the outlook for the year is modestly ahead of our previous expectations and we are encouraged by our continued progress in driving operating efficiencies through the business,” David Thomas continued.
“Whilst we continue to monitor the market closely, we are confident of delivering a good financial and operational performance in FY19.”
As for the company’s outlook, Barratt Developments expects to grow volume towards the lower end of its medium term target range.
Despite the political and economic uncertainty surrounding the UK’s departure from the European union, Barratt Developments believes it is in a strong position to cope with the consequences of Brexit.
At the end of last year, a report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said that UK property was at its weakest since 2012, with Brexit concerns continuing to prevail across the market into 2019.
In March, house prices fell 1.6% according to latest Halifax figures.
At 08:28 BST Thursday, shares in Barratt Developments plc (LON:BDEV) were trading at +0.68%.
