.png)
In a trading update the board of Barratt Developments said that the past four months had seen “market conditions remain robust across all regions of the country”.
The company is on track to deliver its target of 15,000 new homes in fiscal 2015, not including joint ventures.
Private forward sales are up 11.9% to £1,261.6m (2013: £1,127.4m) and joint venture private forward sales, mostly in London, are up 49.7% to £293.1m (2013: £195.8m)
Group chief executive Mark Clare said: "We are on track to see another significant improvement in performance by continuing to focus on delivering high quality, well designed homes in places where people want to live. Our disciplined approach to investment in new sites is underpinning our confidence that by FY17 we can deliver at least a 20% gross margin and a minimum return on capital of 25%."
That 25% ROCE figure is up from 19.5% last year and 11.5% in fiscal 2013.
Barratt has increased its rate of site openings, launching 80 new developments in the past four months (including JVs). By the end of June 2015 it expects to have approximately 400 active sites (compared to 366 at the end of June 2014).
In the year to 30 June 2014, Barratt saw a 21% growth in revenues to £3.16bn and pre-tax profits doubling to £390m.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
