REG - Vistry Group PLC - Trading update

VistryAnnouncement

14/05/2025 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20250514:nRSN5317Ia&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 5317I  Vistry Group PLC  14 May 2025

14 May 2025

 

 

Trading update

Vistry Group (the Group) is providing an update on trading from 1 January 2025
to date (the period), ahead of its Annual General Meeting which is being held
at 12:00 noon today.

The Group has made good progress on executing the key priorities set out in
its FY24 results, announced at the end of March, and the Board maintains its
expectations for the year.

The Group's sales rate for the year to date has increased since our March
announcement to 0.91 (2024: 0.94) from 0.59 and averaged 1.32 (2024: 1.17) in
the last eight weeks.  The Group's forward order book totals £4.6bn (2024:
£4.9bn) of which £2.1bn (2024: £2.1bn) is for delivery this year, with
units secured increasing to 72% of forecast FY25 units.

In the Open Market, we have seen an improvement in our sales rate over the
past eight weeks and we expect this trend to continue.  Mortgage availability
and affordability is improving, with lenders increasing their product range
and borrowing rates reducing ahead of further expected cuts to the Bank of
England base rate.  We continue to expect FY25 Open Market volumes to be at a
similar level to FY24, with the impact from a reduction in sales outlets as we
roll-off our former Housebuilding sites offset by an increase in our Open
Market sales rate.

The UK Government's announcement in late March of an additional £2bn of
'top-up' affordable housing funding, to be allocated through the existing
Affordable Homes Programme to projects starting by March 2027 and completing
by June 2029, has provided positive impetus to the sector.  The Group is well
positioned on this and has been working closely with a range of partners to
identify the best opportunities to secure funding and deliver much needed
affordable homes.  We are expecting greater clarity around the allocation of
this funding following the Spending Review in June, and for this to drive a
step up in demand from our affordable housing partners in the second half of
the year.

We are seeing strengthening demand from the PRS market and are particularly
encouraged by the momentum of investment funds being raised in this sub-sector
of the market.

As expected, in the year to date, Partner Funded transaction activity has
continued to be at a relatively low level, reflecting investment constraints
amongst some of our Registered Provider partners ahead of the new affordable
homes funding becoming available.  We continue to expect our Partner Funded
volumes for FY25 to be at a similar level to last year, with strong momentum
going into FY26.

We are seeing some upward pressure on both material and labour prices which we
are mitigating, where possible, through proactive engagement with our
sub-contractors and suppliers.  We continue to expect low single digit build
cost inflation for FY25.

The Group is securing attractive land and development opportunities, and in
the period secured 1,672 (2024: 6,037) plots across 6 (2024: 19)
developments.  Whilst we expect the rate of land acquisition to increase as
we move through the year, in line with our Partnerships strategy, we are
targeting a reduction in the length of our owned landbank in the medium term.

Delivering improved cash generation and ensuring the Group retains a strong
financial position is a key priority.  We are targeting a steady reduction in
average net borrowing through the year and are progressing our programme of
underlying initiatives to achieve this.  Alongside this, the Group has
commenced the process of refinancing its Term Loan and Revolving Credit
Facility and expects to complete this during the summer.

The Group is making good progress and continues to expect to deliver a year on
year increase in profits in FY25 with, as previously guided, a more
significant H2 weighting than in prior years.

 

For further information please contact:

 Vistry Group PLC

 Tim Lawlor, Chief Financial Officer             020 3048 3393

 Susie Bell, Group Investor Relations Director

 FTI Consulting

 Richard Mountain / Susanne Yule                 020 3727 1340

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  TSTAJMRTMTTBBRA