Barratt Developments ahead of expectations

Housebuilder Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) has seen its share price rise by 2.49% to 600.60p (as of 12:50 BST) after it announced that forward sales were up by 2.4% over the five months to 5th May. Management said that their expectations for the full year were now modestly higher than they had been previously and added that the firm was making good progress on its medium term forecasts.

Chief executive David Thomas commented: “This has been another strong period for the Group. As Britain’s largest housebuilder we remain firmly committed to delivering industry-leading build quality and customer service and we are proud to have been awarded 5 stars for customer satisfaction for ten years in a row.

‘Trading since the beginning of the year has been strong, the outlook for the year is modestly ahead of our previous expectations and we are encouraged by our continued progress in driving operating efficiencies through the business.

‘Whilst we continue to monitor the market closely, we are confident of delivering a good financial and operational performance in FY19“.