Cairn Homes (LON:CRN) have given shareholders a confident outlook going forward into 2020.
The firm alluded to strong growth in sales and revenue in 2019, in a time where the property market has hit been hit Brexit complications and external shocks.
In a trading update for the year ended December 31, the company said its revenue grew 29% to €434 million from €337 million a year before.
Cairn told the market that they expect to report 1,080 closed unit sales which sees a surge of 34% from 2018.
Further pleasing for shareholders was the stat that said operating profit is expected to increase by 28% to €68 million from €53.2 million in 2018.
The Irish home builder said that strong demand for new homes in 2019 has been undermined the competitiveness of its average selling price of €372,000, compared to €366,000 the prior year, with first-time buyer starter home average selling price of €314,000.
Michael Stanley, Co-Founder and CEO of Cairn, commented:
“2019 was another year of exceptional execution by our talented team at Cairn. We increased our revenues to c. €434 million, moved 1,080 customers into their new homes and we start 2020 with 740 homes already forward sold. With more certainty around Brexit, the robust performance of the Irish economy and the fact that housing supply still falls significantly short of demand, we believe our business model is well positioned to take full advantage and we look forward with real confidence to 2020 and beyond.”
“We expect to generate c. €500 million in free cash to the end of 2022 and our announcement today that we are increasing our current share buyback programme to €60 million demonstrates our longstanding commitment to creating value for our shareholders. We will continue our policy of progressive ordinary dividends and will declare a final dividend in March 2020.”
British Homebuilders – Vistry
Yesterday, Vistry (LON:VTY) told shareholders that it expects to deliver record full year profit.
The firm told shareholders on Wednesday that full year profit before exceptional items is expected to rise above market forecasts of £181.6 million.
This is an impressive expectation, and shows growth from 2018 figure of £168.1 million with operating profit before exceptional items at £174.2 million.
The company has only recently changed its name following two acquisitions from Galliford Try PLC (LON:GFRD).
Looking at 2019 trading figures, the firm said that it had completed 3,867 new homes, 2.9% more than 3,759 in 2018 which would have pleased shareholders.
Notably, the average selling price was £279,000, up 2.1% from £273,200 the year before.
Taylor Wimpey see stable performance
At the start of the week, Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW) told the market that they expect results to be aligned with expectations.
The FTSE 100 trader said that the housing market remained stable in the last year, however there were challenges faced in London and the South East.
Taylor Wimpey noted that total house completions in 2019 has increased by 5% to 15,719 which included joint ventures.
2019 ended with a record total order book valued at £2.17 million, which showed a ruse from the £1.78 figure a year ago.
The house builder said that it remains cash generative and intends to return £610 million to shareholders in a dividend form.
Cairn Homes have the statistics which back up their strong expectations and confidence and shareholders will remain keen to see how the firm performs across the year.
Shares in Cairn Homes trade at €1.32 (+1.54%). 16/1/20 14:27BST.
