Bovis and McStone positive on outlook

McCarthy & Stone and Bovis have both issued positive statements to the City today (November 14), with McStone issuing “strong” full year financial results and Bovis describing its progress as “encouraging” in a trading statement.

McCarthy & Stone announced its financial results for the full year ending August 31 2017, which show record revenues for the firm up 4% to £661 million although total legal completions at 2,302 were similar to last year (2,296). Underlying profit before tax was £94.1 million (FY16: £105.0 million). The firm said that the results were in line with market expectations.

The results reveal a “strong” forward order book at November 10 2017 of £277 million (November 11 2016: £250 million) with workflow on track to support the firm’s growth strategy and deliver around 80 new sales releases in 2018, up on the 52 in 2017.

McCarthy & Stone ceo Clive Fenton said: “We achieved a strong result in the second half of the year and delivered an improvement in both margins and volumes compared to the first half of FY17. Our full year completion volumes were in line with the prior year despite some headwinds as a result of the increased level …