Scottish housebuilder aiming to cut debt through land sales as it re-enters affordable housing market
Springfield Properties has said it is on track to meet its expectations for the year despite a drop in completions.
The £330m-turnover Scottish said in a trading update today that is “confident of meeting market expectation” for the year to 30 November. It has previously said it is expecting adjusted pre-tax profit of £10m to £14m for the year.
Springfield also said it is on track to cut its net bank debt to £55m by 31 May, down from £61.8m at the same period last year. It is aiming to sell land to help achieve this and has entered two land sale agreements to raise £9.3m.
However the housebuilder said its reservation rates “remained stable but subdued” throughout the period and that its completions have dropped by an unspecified amount.
It said: “Demand compared with the prior year period continued to be impacted by high interest rates, mortgage affordability and reduced homebuyer confidence, resulting in lower completions and reservations than in H1 2023.”
It said that since re-entering the affordable housebuilding market in May the group has signed affordable housing contracts totalling £24m. It said it is only pursuing affordable housing contracts that have a 12 to 18 month delivery timeframe as these have lower pricing risk.
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Springfield said it has 6,500 owned plots in its landbanks, with options over a further 3,255 acres, equating to 33,000 plots.
Springfield expects to publish its half-year results in February.
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