Galliford Try reports 'encouraging' start to financial year

19th Nov 2013 10:31

Galliford Try, the housebuilding and construction group, reported an 'encouraging' start to its financial year and said its growth strategy had seen good progress. In Housebuilding, the group's in-hand position of sales reserved, contracted or completed rose 21% to £585m (2012: £485m) on the back of a strong autumn selling season. Of that amount, £485m is for the current financial year to June 30th 2014, up 33% on last year.The group also revealed that sales prices were up by 1-3% since the start of the financial year, with variations between regions. Cancellation rates were stable at 17%. Galliford described an "excellent" period of land acquisition with landbank increasing by 24% to a record 13,000 plots (2012: 10,500). In Construction, the order book was "robust" at £1.75m (2012: £1.6bn), while the pipeline of opportunities continued to increase. Cash management and margin protection continued to be strong and were both in line with expectations. The company has secured 93% of projcted revenues for the financial year, with 55% secured for the following year. Chief Executive Greg Fitzgerald said: "Following an excellent year of trading we continue to make good progress in executing our disciplined growth strategy with a clear focus on improving margins. "Both our housebuilding and construction divisions have made an encouraging start to the financial year. On the back of an improving housing market and the excellent location of our sites, the autumn selling season has been strong. "Construction continues to perform impressively in a challenging market albeit with improving levels of opportunities. Overall the group is well placed to deliver further profitable growth." NR