CALA has delivered record profits and revenues for the fourth year in a row, driven by a 16% increase in total home completions and a 6% increase in the Group’s private average selling price to £538,000 due to change in product mix.
Net private reservations surged 45%, driven by a greater number of sales outlets with a broadly flat cancellation rate of 17%.
“Despite headwinds in some of our markets, we have continued to build on the strong momentum we have generated over recent years, once again delivering robust volume and revenue growth while still achieving incremental improvements in our return on capital employed,” said Alan Brown, Chief Executive of CALA Group, said.
“Our growth strategy remains to focus on driving operational efficiency improvements throughout the Group as we continue scaling up our divisions,” Brown added. “Alongside this, we continue to invest in building the size and capability of our teams, welcoming almost 100 additional members of staff to the business including our ongoing increase of apprenticeship and graduate recruitment initiatives across the Group.”
In the 13 weeks since the EU referendum result, the Group reported positive trading with total enquiry levels and reservation rates up 9% and 46% respectively, while website users have also risen by 32% compared with 2015. Sales prices have also remained stable while cancellation rates have actually reduced slightly.
“Overall, we remain on course to deliver an annual capacity of 2,000 to 2,500 units within the next four years through delivering premium quality, well designed homes and communities in prime locations across the UK,” said Brown.