Housebuilder has postponed full year figures at the request of its auditors

Vistry is to delay publication of its report and accounts for 2020 because of the impact of the lockdown on the availability of auditors to verify the figures.

The housebuilder, formed from a merger at the start of 2020 between Bovis Homes and Galliford Try’s housing businesses, was due to publish its figures for the covid-affected 2020 year to December on Thursday this week, but has now said the results will be published next Thursday instead.

Vistry Pinhoe

The firm said its auditor, PwC, had requested the delay because of “practical resource constraints due to the current lockdown”, and that the additional week will “allow sufficient time for the auditor to complete its audit of the results and ensure the quality of its reporting”.

The announcement comes after reports last month suggesting that a number of firms are likely to be impacted as accountancy firms struggle to deliver services at the usual rate given the home-schooling burden placed on some staff.

Vistry is expected to report a pre-tax profit of around £140m for the year after building 4,632 homes – 32% down on the combined Bovis and Galliford Try completions seen in 2019.

The news came as Vistry announced it had received planning consent for 145 homes in Kempshott, Basingstoke, marking the second phase of the £232m Hounsome Fields development.

The firm also revealed it has won a £24.3m contract with housing association LiveWest to build 149 homes in Harrington Park in Exeter (pictured, above left). The scheme includes 62 affordable homes provided through section 106 agreement.

The deal is part of a long-term agreement between Vistry and LiveWest to build 2,000 homes across the South-west.