KEEPMOAT Homes has hailed a ‘resilient’ financial performance in the face of disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, as the housebuilder published its group results for the year ended 31 October 2020.
Revenue was down from £649.8 million to £406 million. Adjusted earnings before interest and tax was also down, from £61.1 million to £11.4 million. 2,460 homes were sold over the year, in comparison to 4,035 in the previous 12 months.
CEO Tim Beale said, “Our priority throughout the Covid-19 pandemic has been the safety and wellbeing of our people, our customers and the communities we work with. Despite the year’s challenges, our mixed-tenure partnership model has continued to set us apart, proving incredibly resilient and ensured we are bouncing back strongly and started the Spring selling season well.
“We started the year with a strong first quarter, demonstrating good momentum following a record performance in the financial year ended 31 October 2019. With the arrival of the pandemic and safety our top priority, we closed all our sites in April 2020 and introduced rigorous Covid-safe working protocols and inspection regimes before undertaking a phased re-opening in May. We accelerated the digital transformation of our business, investing in our digital infrastructure to improve the customer sales journey, with online sales and appointment booking tools, as well as systems to strengthen build management.”
Mr Beale added that the business is “uniquely placed” to serve the needs of the UK today, highlighting the fact that over 70% of the housebuilder’s open market sales in the last financial year were made to first-time buyers.
“We operate in the sweet spot of the UK housing market, with continuing strong demand for our high quality, affordable homes from first-time buyers and for our mixed tenure offering,” he commented. “Housing is a major government priority, and many customers are re-appraising where they want to live with demand for flexible space for living, working, exercising, and relaxing.
“We continue to execute our growth strategy, benefiting from a record forward sold position and the excellent forward visibility provided by our land pipeline of over 24,000 plots, equivalent to six years’ supply, as well as the flexibility provided by our mixed tenure model. We ended the reporting period with regained momentum, which has continued over the last six months, and I am confident that in 2021, Keepmoat will continue to go from strength to strength.”
