Full Year 2024 Henry Boot PLC Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- Henry Boot PLC (LSE:BOOT) achieved total land and property sales of nearly GBP350 million, demonstrating resilience in challenging market conditions.
- The company has made strategic progress by taking full ownership of Stonebridge Homes and entering into the Origin Joint Venture to accelerate industrial development.
- The balance sheet remains strong with a net asset value (NAV) of over GBP3 per share, reflecting conservative valuation practices.
- The company increased its full-year dividend by 5%, indicating confidence in its key markets and medium-term targets.
- The land portfolio increased to 105,000 plots, with plans to submit applications for 10,000 plots over the next 12 months, capitalizing on changes to the planning system.
- Operating profit in the construction segment was nearly GBP5 million, below budget due to a challenging environment and a fall in HBC's turnover.
- Return on capital employed (ROCE) reduced to 8%, below the target range of 10% to 15%, due to increased cost base.
- Earnings per share decreased to 17.4p, reflecting challenges in the market.
- The construction segment's performance was impacted by a fall in turnover and Banner Plants trading below budget.
- Net debt stood at GBP63 million, with gearing expected to be towards the top of the 10% to 20% range during 2025 as markets improve.
So, morning everybody. So it's going to be the normal running order. I'm going to start off with a brief introduction and then review of our performance. And then Darren's going to go through the financials and land promotion, then I'm going to finish off on development, construction, and Stonebridge and also Outlook.
So first of all, an introduction, our focus on high quality land, prime developments, and premium homes helped us to achieve total land and property sales of nearly GBP350 million or a share GBP224 million. This is broadly in line with the sales over the last three years and shows it's a time when the markets have been pretty challenging that demand for our property remains resilient.
We also continue to make good strategic progress and we've done three things. We've agreed terms to take full ownership of Stonebridge Homes. Following a strategic workforce plan at Hallam, we're increasing headcounts and also in-house specialism to enable us to submit more planning consents and then ultimately to grow
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