Good half for Barratt

Barratt has delivered its highest half year home completions in 12 years with 8,314 homes, up 9.1%, and seen revenue and profit before tax rise accordingly.

Announcing its half year results for the six months period to December 31 2019, the firm saw revenue up 6.3% to £2,266 million (£2,132 million) and profit before tax up 3.7% to £423 million (£408 million).

Barratt reported adjusted operating margin of 19.4% (2018: 19.0%), with operating margin at 18.6% (2018: 19.2%) after adjusted items costs of £17.8 million.

This year net private reservations per active outlet per average week from January 1 to February 2 are at 0.83 (2019: 0.74) and total forward sales as at February 2020 have reached 13,043 homes (February 2019: 13,194 homes) at a value of £3,027.1 million (February 2019: £3,021.0 million).

Commenting on the results David Thomas, ceo of Barratt Developments, said:

“We have achieved a strong first half performance, delivering continued volume growth and making good progress against our medium term targets. We have made a good start to our second half and with substantial net cash, a well-capitalised balance sheet and strong forward sales, the outlook for the full year is in line with our …