Henry Boot has seen profits fall over the first half of the year amid increasing uncertainty in the housing market.
Despite a 24.5% increase in revenue year on year to £179.8million due largely to land promotion disposals and property completions, the company saw its underlying profit drop from £37.8million to £23.3million over the same period with Henry Boot saying that ‘uncertainty in our markets has increased’ over the first six months of the year.
Tim Roberts, chief executive officer of Henry Boot, commented: “The first half of the year has seen our markets slow as interest rates have continued to rise, but, as these results show, our focus on prime strategic sites, high-quality development and premium homes has provided us with a degree of resilience. This has helped us to report a very respectable underlying profit before tax of £23.3million, an increase in NAV of 3%, plus the confidence to grow our interim dividend by 10%.”
“Whilst uncertainty in our markets has increased, we believe we have enough momentum to carry us through the year, although the outlook for 2024 for the time being is not so clear. However, we have conviction in our three markets which are driven by structural trends and I am pleased to report that we remain on track to hit our strategic growth and return targets over the medium term.”
The construction division of the company in particular has struggled, with pre-tax profit at construction down a third to £4.4million from £6.6million the previous year. The division also only managed to secure 72% of its targeted 2023 order book due largely to the cautious approach being taken by potential housebuilders. The 2024 order book is also significantly down, with just 18% secured so far compared to a target of 65%.
