Berkeley to hit high end of forecasts

18th Mar 2011 07:14

London and south-east housebuilder Berkeley continues to benefit from the region's position as a pocket of strength in an otherwise gloomy housing market."Berkeley anticipates reporting earnings at the high end of its expectations for the year ended 30 April 2011 and the investment in work in progress will enable a further growth in earnings in 2011/12 if overall market conditions permit," it said.Sales reservations were up 25% between November and February on the same time last year. "Cancellation rates are at historically low levels, while visitors per site has been consistent with the same period last year, reflecting the current mortgage market conditions, with an increase in the number of outlets leading to the higher levels of sales overall," the firm said."Forward sales currently exceed £800m, while build costs remain benign with underlying increases in fuel and commodities offset by excess capacity in the construction sector," Berkeley added.In the period, it acquired a further 1,000 plots across 8 new sites bringing the total number of plots acquired in the year to 3,500 across 21 sites.