Cala announces post-pandemic revenue of £1.25bn

Cala has announced it expects to deliver a revenue for 2021 of £1.25bn for the first time, with a pre-tax profit of £130m.

The profit is a 35% increase on that of 2019 and the L&G-backed housebuilding believes it will be one of the only major construction firms to rebound strongly after interrupted delivery because of the pandemic last year.

Kevin Whitaker, chief executive at CALA Group, said: “Several factors have enabled our excellent financial performance across the 12-month period. In particular, we have seen many people making positive new home choices to seek out larger living spaces and this has driven very strong demand for our homes in aspirational suburban locations.”

He recognised there had been significant supply chain issues across the industry but added that the market had been strong.

“This, combined with improvements to our operational efficiency and the hard work of our team, has enabled us to deliver an excellent performance across the year.”

Cala reported 2,904 home completions for last year, an increase of 19% on the 2019 total of 2,449 units and 59% on the 2020 total of 1,835 units.

Sales per site per week for 2021 were 0.76, which compares with 0.53 in 2019 and 0.51 achieved in 2020. The business recorded a private average sales price of £462,000 in 2021

The housebuilder has entered this financial year with its strongest ever forward private reservations – £488m gross development value from 994 units.