The firm noted that reservations per outlet per week were at a more normal level during the reported period – 0.68 compared to the “unusually high” 0.75 of last year. Help to Buy only represented 9% of its private sales.
This impacted homes turnover during the first 19 weeks of the financial year – at £666 million this was 4% lower than the exceptional levels of last year.
But Redrow’s private average selling price (ASP) climbed 14% against last year to £453,000. Redrow said this was a result of customer desire to personalise homes, alongside geographic and product mix and price inflation.
It added that due to the “ongoing strength” of the market, it expected to be operating from an average of 112 outlets for the full financial year. In its financial year to date, this has averaged at 114 against last year’s 116.
With the company’s strategy to build outside of London, chairman Richard Akers said that “we expect to deliver results in the 2022 financial year approaching those achieved in 2019”.
And for 2022 it anticipates turnover of around £2.1 billion and an operating margin of around 19%. This is thanks to a record forward order book of £1.51 billion (2021: £1.48 billion), its strong sales rates and increase in private ASP. In 2019, Redrow’s turnover was £2.11 billion.
For the current financial year, Redrow estimates an overall build cost inflation of around 5%. It said that it was working successfully with its supply chain partners to maintain build output in the face of ongoing material shortages.
