Galliford Try climbs despite downturn in performance

Shares in FTSE 250 housebuilder Galliford Try (LON:GFRD) rose by 3.24% to 685.50p (as of 13:40 BST) despite group revenues dropping for the year ended 30th June. Profits before tax fell by 27% and the full-year dividend was cut to 55p.

CEO Graham Prothero commented: “The Group has continued to perform well and our talented teams across the businesses have delivered a good performance despite the challenges faced.

“We continue to make great progress in Linden Homes, focusing on the benefits of standardising our range and rationalising process. We are building homes more cost effectively while delivering well-designed, high quality units which meet our customers’ needs, as reflected in our improving satisfaction scores. We continue to head towards our target of 80% of completions being Linden Collection.

“Partnerships & Regeneration has continued its excellent performance with both revenue growth and margin expansion, as we increase our delivery of affordable new homes. The acquisition of Strategic Team Group in Yorkshire accelerates our strategy of targeting growth in key regions around the country. We continue to see strong demand across the regions, and we are well placed to respond to this, working alongside Housing Associations, local authorities and other partners.

“Construction’s result for the year has been impacted by challenges with both legacy and some current projects and by the restructure, which is now complete. The business continues to see good demand in its Building and Infrastructure divisions and is focusing on disciplined growth across its core sectors of building, water and highways, which we believe will deliver improved margins.

“The potential combination of our Linden Homes and Partnerships businesses with Bovis Homes represents a superb opportunity, enhancing the prospects for all three of our businesses to thrive as strategically focused and well-financed operations with excellent opportunities for growth. The transaction allows Construction to continue trading as a standalone well capitalised business“.