Galliford Try enjoys southern comfort

Construction firm Galliford Try had a strong second half to 2011, and is on track to meet expectations for the financial year.

During the period Galliford saw a 59% increase in the number of total house build completions to a record 1,352. With its joint venture partners' share of completions stripped out, completions rose to 1,216 from 851 in the second half of 2010.

The group saw a 42% increase in the total value of house build sales reserved and completed, from £367m to £522m, and a 36% increase in unit sales per outlet per week from 0.33 to 0.45.

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The average selling price on private sales was up 17% at £239,000 from £204,000 in the second half of 2010, reflecting an increased proportion of sales in the south-east of England.

The average selling price for affordable sales was £102,000 (2010: £110,000) leading to a combined average selling price of £203,000 (2010: £178,000). Cancellation levels were around the long term average at 18% (2010: 20%).

In construction, all of the projected revenue for the current financial year (to end-August) has been secured, compared to 96% at this stage last year. Furthermore, the group has already wrapped up orders accounting for 62% of sales for the next financial year, an improvement on the 58% of fiscal-year-plus-one sales that had been secured at the end of 2010.

However, the order book is lower than last year, down from £1.75bn to £1.6bn, but still in line with expectations, with 41% in the regulated sector, 45% in public and 14% in private.

Greg Fitzgerald, Chief Executive, said: "The board has been encouraged by the progress in housebuilding as our southern biased business performed strongly despite the general economic uncertainty.

"The increased investment in land and work in progress on our housebuilding sites is in line with our forecasts as we deliver the final year of our housebuilding expansion plan. The cash balance held by our construction business remains significant, albeit reducing during the period as we anticipated due to the tighter market conditions."

Net debt at 31 December was in line with the firm's forecasts at £70m (2010: £30.7m).

NR