Giving a trading update for the period from May 1 to August 31 2022, the housebuilder stated that it is set to deliver a pre-tax profit for the end of the current financial year of £600 million and £625 million for the end of the following year. This year’s profit is anticipated to be “around 55%” weighted towards the second half which Berkeley said was in line with “production scheduling”.
The continuing resilience of the market and second-half weighting of revenue and profits meant forward sales were expected to be “marginally above” the £2.17 billion as of April 30 2022, Berkeley said.
At the same time, the business noted the still volatile operating environment which was “little changed over a couple of months since the June results announcement”. Berkeley has continued to see overall cost inflation at 5-10% per annum across its portfolio.
The business stated: “In this context, Berkeley’s current strategy focuses on ensuring each site has the most appropriate development solution reflective of prevailing requirements, whilst new land will only be added to the land holdings very selectively,” Berkeley stated.
“The good level of demand continues to support pricing above business plan levels, which is sufficient to cover cost increases on a blended basis across Berkeley’s developments.”
