FTSE 250 construction business Redrow (LON:RDW) saw its share price drop 1.97% to 447.20p (as of 16:20 BST) after recording a 37% drop in revenues and completions for the year ended 28th June. Profit before tax was down by 66% for the year due to both COVID based disruption and impairments linked to the scaling back of activities in London.
Executive Chairman John Tutte commented: “The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact upon the Group’s performance in the 2020 financial year but we entered the new financial year in a position of strength. We have a record order book and brought forward very high levels of work in progress. This was due in part, to increased investment earlier in the year in anticipation of strong demand for the Help to Buy scheme ahead of changes to the scheme next year.
“We brought forward an order book of £1.42bn: up 39%, and reservations, in terms of value, in the first eleven weeks of the new financial year, are 12% ahead.
“The Group is well-placed to deliver a robust performance. We have completed substantially more homes in the first few weeks of the new financial year than during the same comparable period last year whilst maintaining a record order book“.