Telford warns of negative impact to profits as a result of Brexit

10th Oct 2018 09:03

(Sharecast News) - Telford Homes warned investors that negative Brexit sentiment was still affecting the housing market, with potential buyers choosing to "wait and see" how the UK's exit from the EU next March goes before making any big investments.The London focused residential property developer revealed that, despite the decidedly more uncertain backdrop, it had continued to achieve sales at a consistent rate in the last few months.While Telford Homes is focused on more affordable locations with an average price point around £540,000, the group noted that sales of homes above £600,000 had become more challenging and taken longer to secure."This is not expected to get any easier in the short term as negative sentiment is leading customers to take a 'wait and see' approach or to look for more significant price reductions to offset a perception of higher risk as Brexit gets closer," it said.In terms of full year results, Telford reminded shareholders pre-tax profits would be lower in the first half of its trading year than in the second but is expected to exceed the £8.7m achieved in the six months to 30 September 2017.The group has also proposed to increase its interim dividend in accordance with the anticipated full-year profit growth.Chief executive Jon Di Stefano, said: "Notwithstanding the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of Brexit, the group continues to perform well and is focused on increasing the scale of the business driven by the need for homes at affordable price points, in particular in the rental sector.""We remain confident that our approach to forward sales with increased visibility over profit recognition enhanced by our success in build to rent will enable us to deliver strong long-term returns to our shareholders."As of 0900 BST, Telford shares had tumbled 13.78% to 339.72p.