“Good progress” in Vistry’s switch to Partnerships model

Vistry says it is targeting an adjusted profit before tax of £450 million for 2023 as it says it is making “good progress” in implementing its strategy to fully focus on its Partnerships model. The profit target excludes the estimated £40 million financial impact of transitioning the Housebuilding business to Partnerships.

In a trading update issued today for the period from July 1 to date, Vistry says it is continuing to benefit from demand for mixed tenure affordable homes but private sales remain subdued, “without the normal seasonal pickup since early September” despite the use of incentives amounting to around 5%.

The group's average weekly sales rate since July 1 has been 0.60 (2022: 0.64) and 0.76 (2022: 0.77) for the year to date and its forward order book totals £4.3 billion with 100% of private units for FY23 forward sold.

Vistry says it is having “productive discussions” with its supply chain to agree cost reductions.

The firm provided more detail of its revised operating structure, saying: “The group will operate as a single business with 27 regional business units, a reduction from 32, and the group's overall headcount will reduce by around 200 as a result of …