LONDON (dpa-AFX) - U.K. homebuilder Redrow Plc. (RDW.L) Tuesday reported that it completed 4,032 homes in the year 2020, compared to 6,443 homes in the previous year. Turnover is expected to be about 1.34 billion pounds, down from last year's 2.11 billion pounds. Further, the company expects profit for 2020 to be substantially below 2019.
In its trading update for the year ended June 28, the company said the timing of site closures due to Covid-19 towards the end of March had a profound impact upon its results in a year which was budgeted to be disproportionately weighted to the end of the second-half.
The company secured 4,222 private reservations in the year with a value of 1.61 billion pounds, down from 1.67 billion pounds last year.
The company commenced a phased return to construction and began re-opening it sales offices on May 18. Sales offices in Wales remained closed until June 22 due to lockdown restrictions.
The company is currently undertaking construction activities across 124 developments and has 113 sales offices open, compared to 129 last year.
In the 5 weeks since re-opening its sales offices, Redrow has achieved a net sales rate per outlet per week of 0.56, down from 0.59 last year.
The company noted that it enters the new financial year with a record order book of 1.42 billion pounds, up from 1.02 billion pounds last year.
Further, the company said it has decided to scale-back operations in London to focus on the Colindale Gardens development and continue to target its future growth on the higher returning regional businesses and the Heritage product.
Due to this and the impact of Covid-19, Redrow now projects profit for 2020 will be substantially below 2019.
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