Watkin Jones said its project margins are meeting expectations as it seeks to recover from a profit slump and redundancies last year.

The build-to-rent (BTR) and student housing specialist, in a brief trading update for the half year ending 31 March, said its project margins “have been in line with updated guidance given in January”.

The firm previously said it anticipated gross margins of 12% to 14% in the short term. The firm said an exception to this was a scheme in Exeter where it had incurred extra costs following the liquidation of a contractor.