U.K. homebuilder Redrow Plc. (RDW.L) reported Wednesday that its fiscal 2020 profit before tax fell 66 percent to 140 million pounds from last year’s 406 million pounds.
The results reflected COVID-19 and costs and impairments in connection with the scaling-back of the London business.
Earnings per share were down 64 percent to 32.9 pence from 92.3 pence last year.
Revenue for the year declined 37 percent to 1.34 billion pounds from 2.11 billion pounds a year ago.
Legal Completions also were down 37 percent to 4,032 units from 6,443 units last year.
The company noted that the temporary closure of sites and adapting to new ways of working, resulted in only 264 completions in the final quarter of the year compared to 2,345 in 2019.
Total order book was 1.42 billion pounds, compared to 1.02 billion pounds a year ago.
Regarding the current trading, the company noted that for the first 11 weeks of the current financial year, sales rate has been very strong at 0.84, compared to last year’s 0.68.
The forward order book is 1.53 billion pounds, compared to 1.33 billion pounds a year ago.
John Tutte, Executive Chairman of Redrow, said, “We have completed substantially more homes in the first few weeks of the new financial year than during the same comparable period last year whilst maintaining a record order book… This, combined with reduced investment in London, will deliver strong operating cash flow over the coming months to support our regional growth plans and, subject to market conditions, allow dividend payments to resume in 2021.”
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