Eleven year high for Barratt completions

Barratt has delivered its highest number of completions for eleven years in the 12 months to the end of June with profit before tax expected to be ahead of expectation at around £910 million against £835.5 million last year.

In a trading update for the year issued today Barratt says it has completed 17,856 homes including joint ventures (2018: 17,579 homes), with wholly owned completions up by 2.6% to 17,111 homes (2018: 16,680 homes). Operating margin is around 18.9% (2018: 17.7%).

Barratt ceo David Thomas said: “It has been another very good year for the group both operationally and financially. We have delivered our highest number of completions for eleven years, made further improvements to our margin and as the only major housebuilder to be awarded a 5 star rating for customer satisfaction for ten years in a row, we continue to lead the industry in quality and customer service.

“We begin the new financial year with a strong forward order book and cash position, continued focus on the delivery of operational improvements across our business, and an ongoing commitment to deliver the highest quality homes across the country.”

The sales rate for the year was 0.70 (2018: 0.72) net private …