<p>Churchill Retirement Living’s sales rose 31% during its full year but its operating profit dropped 9.8% due to build costs and new Building Regulations, it said today (August 18).</p> <p>Reporting its financial results for the year ending June 30 2022, the retirement housebuilder said its unit sales climbed to 543 against 2021’s 413. Their average selling price lifted to £349,000 from last year’s £333,000.</p> <p>The firm’s full year operating profit was £38.8 million against 2021’s £43 million, impacted by an 8% increase in build costs “driven by raw material and wage inflation”. As well as the additional effect of this year’s new Building Regulations, Churchill said that moves to achieve its “Growth Drive ‘25” objectives – including opening new regional offices and growing its workforce – had also affected profit. </p> <p>At the same time, Churchill’s revenue improved 25% during its full year to £200.1 million. It said that despite cost challenges and the other hurdles described above, it had remained “highly disciplined” over build cost control, with its operating margin of 19.4% for the full year “the strongest in the retirement housing industry”, although this fell against 2021’s 26.9%.</p> <p>Churchill exchanged on 24 new sites across all regions during …