Bovis house sales bounce back

15th Jan 2010 07:25

Housebuilder Bovis ended last year with cash in hand and has now started to buy land again after house sales last year rose by 25% and average prices increased by 2.5%.The group legally completed 1,803 homes in 2009 (2008: 1,817), of which 1,527 were private homes, up 25% on the prior year (2008: 1,223) and 276 were social and partnership homes (2008: 594). At £154,600, the average sales price in 2009 was 2.5% higher than the equivalent in 2008 (£150,800). This rise was heavily influenced by a falling contribution in the sales mix from lower priced social and partnership homes, which made up just 15% of the mix in 2009 versus 33% in 2008. The average sales price of the group's private homes in 2009 was £165,500 versus £181,000 in 2008.Pre-exceptional pre-tax profit will be in line with the board's expectations, Bovis added, while it will benefit from a net inventory provision release as land values recover. Bovis also said it had cash at £113m at the year end and will use this and a renegotiated bank facility to re-invest in residential land, to increase the output capacity of the group. Bovis acquired four sites in late 2009, with terms agreed in principle on a further 15 sites.The group received 1,801 private home reservations during the year, 82% ahead of the prior year's 989 private reservations, though it is still cautious over the outlook for 2010."The group continues to expect trading conditions in 2010 to be subdued relative to historical levels, given ongoing economic uncertainty. Mortgage approval volumes are slowly rising, but mortgage providers continue to require record high levels of deposits, particularly from first-time buyers. This all said, longer-term market demand and supply trends remain positive," it said.