Berkeley pledges £1.7bn shareholder payout

Aaron Morby 14 years ago
Share

South East house builder Berkeley Group has unveiled plans to return £1.7bn to shareholders over the next 10 years.

The huge handout, which amounts to a £13 payout to each shareholder, is part of a new 10-year strategy, which will also see a new management bonus scheme introduced to deliver the plan.

Chairman Tony Pidgley said: “I am delighted that in the two years since shareholders supported the board’s proposal to invest at the right point in the cycle, Berkeley has made great progress and acquired a number of excellent sites in London and the South East, committing in excess of £500 million to the land bank in the process and laying the foundation for the next phase of the Group’s strategy.

“The Board’s recommendation to return £13 in cash over the next ten years is the result of these achievements.”

Berkeley has acquired some 3,600 plots across 24 sites, which has raised the value of the group’s land bank rose to £2.3bn, 13% up on a year ago.

In the year ending April, pre-tax profits jumped 23% to £136m on turnover up by the same amount at £742m.

The result leaves Berkeley boasting an operating margin of 18%, the highest among leading house builders.

The group sold 2,544 homes during the year at an average selling price of £271,000, compared with 2,201 units sold at a price of £263,000 the year before.

Also contributing to the rise was the £13.8m made from land sales, compared with none the year before, reflecting the disposal of three sites in the second half.

Berkeley welcome recent Government measures to stimulate the housing market, but warned it was still too early to gauge what impact the localism Bill would have on future building.

Managing director, Rob Perrins said: “There are now considerably less public funds available to contribute to the financing of affordable housing and this, together with escalating other S106 requirements will threaten the commercial viability of some schemes.”

“The combination of these two factors allied to the localism will impact on housing supply.”

“By investing in the land bank early in the cycle during the last two years and taking out the planning risk wherever possible, the group is now well positioned to deliver further growth in earnings to the extent market conditions allow.

“The focus of the long term strategy is turning this tactical advantage into strong and tangible returns for shareholders over the next 10 years.”

Latest news

Three Keltbray managers took £600,000 in bribes

Site managers convicted for taking kickbacks from labour supply specialist
4 hours ago

Bidding starts for £1bn YORcivil major works deal

Eight firms face fight to renew places on big civils framework
4 hours ago

ECF clinches deal for Hull 850-home urban village

East Bank waterside village plan advances
18 hours ago

Maintenance firm Cardo in second Scottish acquisition

North Lanarkshire property maintenance firm Rodgers & Johnston bought
4 hours ago

Kier confirms £41m Salford Uni health building job

Work starts on specialist three storey teaching building
5 hours ago

Passenger train derailed after hitting track left by Colas workers

Contractor and Network Rail asked to make improvements after accident
17 hours ago

Bryson signs £6m safety products deal with Skanska

Safety specialist becomes sole supplier to contracting giant
16 hours ago

Murphy wins £120m St Fergus gas compressor project

Three low emission compressor units to be installed for National Gas
14 hours ago

Blenheim House payout hopes fade as claims hit £33m

Suggested 10p in the £1 payout for subcontractors now unlikely
1 day ago

£1.3bn decarbonising and fire safety deals out for bid

South East Consortium starts hunt for firms for housing upgrade work prize
1 day ago

£30m turnover M&E contractor files administration notice

TNA Electrical makes administration application
1 day ago

Plan for first big offices at £1.7bn Manchester innovation hub

500,000 sq ft of offices planned at renamed Sister development
1 day ago

Murphy starts work on £2.5bn Eastern Green Link 1

Giant subsea electricity cable project will take three years to build
1 day ago

Subcontractors wanted for work across Birmingham

Latest Constructionline event: Register now
1 day ago

Acheson Construction files administration notice

£53m turnover South West contractor lodges court notice
2 days ago

Hunt for 10 firms to deliver £37bn new hospital plan

Race starts for mega-framework with pledge to spread work among all firms
2 days ago

Springfield to build homes for army of green energy workers

Scottish house builder sells 2,480 plots to Barratt Redrow in strategy switch
2 days ago

Preferred bidder for Stoke city centre scheme

Genr8 Kajima to build Etruscan Square scheme in Hanley
2 days ago

BAM go-ahead for £56m Glasgow leisure centre

Work to start on East Renfrewshire complex later this year
2 days ago

Network Rail fined £3.75m after double track worker death

Michael Lewis and Gareth Delbridge were killed while working on rail line in Wales
5 days ago

Local contractor Castle lands £60m South Shields campus

Work to start this summer on new home for South Tyneside College and South Shields Marine School
5 days ago

GRAHAM wins £100m deal after safety regulator approval

Dyecoats scheme in Leeds becomes one of first to receive Building Safety Act Gateway 2 green light
6 days ago

London Super Sewer now fully connected

10-year construction programme draws to a close
5 days ago

McLaren signs off £125m London Bank over-station job

Developer Helical secures funding deal for 8-storey office job
5 days ago

Work on Labour’s new towns to start by 2029

More than 100 sites put forward for a dozen new town locations
6 days ago

Unite hails 12 years without a site accident at Battersea

More than 4,000 union members have worked on the redevelopment without a single serious accident
5 days ago

Housing orders surge offers hope after 5.2% new work fall last year

Housing orders surged 24% in final quarter of 2024 as developers release schemes
6 days ago

McLaren Property gets new Construction Director

Jon Mangham joins from Equans
6 days ago

BAM Construction suffers £40m loss after Co-op Live setback

Civils business profit surges 24% to £80m
6 days ago

Over 150 jobs axed as J S Wright goes under

Insolvency specialist FRP Advisory goes in at Birmingham M&E specialist
6 days ago

Contractor services