<p>Vistry Group has had a “very positive start to the year”, with higher than expected Housebuilding completions helping to drive a pre-tax profit for FY 2021 ahead of original expectations.</p> <p>Giving an update for the period from January 1 2021 to date, the housebuilder said that its private sales rate per site per week during the period was 0.75, 70% up on the equivalent rate for 2020 and a 21% lift on 2019 pro-forma.</p> <p>It added that its Housebuilding division was set to deliver around 6,500 completions for its year end (December 31 2021) - against 2020’s 4,652 - up on its previous expectations. The division’s adjusted gross margin is also set to improve to around 22%.</p> <p>Vistry had previously anticipated FY 2021’s <span>adjusted pre-tax profit</span><span> </span><span>to be “at least” £310 million. It now expects this to be around £325 million.</span></p> <p>The Partnerships business also expects to significantly grow its mixed tenure completions at a higher margin for 2021. Vistry said the division was on track to achieve its FY 2022 goals of £1 billion revenue and an adjusted operating margin of “10% plus”. </p> <p>The group’s <span>forward sales position currently stands at £2.7 billion. Its Housebuilding forward sales total …