McCarthy & Stone, the UK's leading retirement housebuilder, generated £645.9m in revenues for the year ended 31st August 2016 (2015: £485.7m). Profit before tax was £92.9m (2015: £80.9m). Return on capital employed remained 20%.
The company re-joined the main market of the London Stock Exchange in November 2015 and was re-admitted to the FTSE 250 in March 2016.
Directors said that they had seen a 13% improvement in the weekly net reservation rate since 1st September, compared to the same period in 2015.
Despite a slight slowdown in the market in the run up to and aftermath of the EU referendum, normal trading conditions appear to have returned, they said, and the medium term strategic objective of building and selling 3,000 units a year remains unchanged.
Chairman John White said: “I was greatly encouraged by our flexibility and resilience shown in response to market uncertainty surrounding the EU referendum result in June. Our highly conditional land bank and experienced management team enabled us to navigate the uncertainty. We acted quickly to close out completion chains and adopted a more measured approach with respect to land investment, delivering a strong balance sheet at the year end and positioning us for a quick return to business as usual as soon as market conditions improved.”
Chief executive Clive Fenton added: “We have started the new financial year with a high-quality land bank, a strengthening forward order book and a strong net cash position. We also have the necessary regional infrastructure and strength of brand to ensure that we are uniquely placed to capitalise on the significant demographic opportunity available to us. We have all the tools in place to sustain a business capable of building and selling more than 3,000 units per annum. Our medium term target remains to deliver a ROCE [return on capital employed] of 25%.”
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