REG - Berkeley Group Hldgs - Trading Statement

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RNS Number : 4826W  Berkeley Group Holdings (The) PLC  13 March 2026

The Berkeley Group Holdings plc

Trading Update

Period from 1 November 2025 to 28 February 2026

13 March 2026

 

The Berkeley Group Holdings plc ("Berkeley") today announces its Trading
Update covering the period from 1 November 2025 to 28 February 2026.

 

"As we approach the year-end, Berkeley re-affirms its pre-tax profit guidance
of £450 million for this year and a similar level for FY27, along with our
target for a strong net cash position of around £300 million.  This reflects
the settlement of over £250 million of land creditors, shareholder returns of
around £190 million in the year to date and investment into Berkeley Living's
BTR platform. The actual out-turn will depend upon the pace of future share
buy-backs, any new land investment and the phasing of legal completions around
the year-end.

The trading environment over this period has remained constrained by the
impact on consumer confidence of geo-political events and macro-economic
uncertainty. However, sales enquiries remain good and the value of underlying
reservations has been recovering towards the levels seen over the summer prior
to the pre-Budget hiatus.

The emerging situation in the Middle East is weighing heavily on risk
sentiment and we await to see the impact of this on the market. While
reaffirming guidance, we are aware of the risk of a further deterioration in
macro conditions with the potential for higher inflation in the near term and
for interest rates to remain higher for longer.

In the long term, the outlook for London is positive. It is a global city of
tremendous resilience, ingenuity and creative power and these fundamental
strengths endure. It is the biggest financial centre in Europe, the second
largest in the world and the leading global city for tech HQs over the last
five years. It offers security, heritage and innovation in a great time zone
and language. For customers with liquidity, the current market dislocation
presents a good opportunity to buy.

We are working hard to counter the challenges we face and we are reviewing our
planning consents to enhance and restore margins to the appropriate level to
enable moving them into production. We have welcomed the collaborative
approach adopted by MHCLG and the GLA in developing its 'Homes for London'
package, which contains all the right ingredients to address the viability
challenge of today's housing market. Wherever possible, we will seek to apply
the spirit of the package to provide the certainty required on our long-term
London sites.

We continue to work with the Building Safety Regulator ("BSR") to navigate
through its very complex and detailed Gateway 2 process for building control
approval.  The poor initial implementation of the BSR has severely impacted
the supply of new homes in London and other urban areas and we fully support
Government's aspiration that the BSR becomes an enabling regulator as soon as
possible. Good progress has been made over the last six months but there is
still a long way to go for this to become a reality, with approvals being
achieved in the prescribed timeframe the norm, rather than the exception.

Looking beyond 2027, given the macro conditions, market sentiment and the
regulatory delays being experienced, Berkeley will focus on cash generation to
maintain a strong balance sheet, the quality of profit in the core business
and shareholder returns, while optimising our land holdings and delivering our
BTR strategy.

Since its interim results, Berkeley has returned £59 million via share
buy-backs, which takes the total in the year to £191 million, and £330
million of shareholder returns since we launched our Berkeley 2035 strategy in
December 2024 which is ahead of programme."

END

 

For further information please contact:

 

The Berkeley Group Holdings plc
                           Novella Communications

R J Stearn / N L
Eady
Tim Robertson

T: 01932 868 555
 
T: 020 3151 7008

LEI: 2138009OQSSLVVHQAL78

 

 

 

 

 

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