HENRY BOOT PLC
('Henry Boot', 'the Company' or 'the Group')
UNAUDITED RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
Henry Boot PLC, a company engaged in land promotion, property investment and development, and construction, announces its unaudited results for the period ended 31 December 2020. Ticker: BOOT.L: Main market premium listing: FTSE: Real Estate Investment and Services.
HIGHLIGHTS
· Revenue of £222.4m (2019: £379.7m) reduced as operations saw lower demand affected by CV-19
· Profit before tax of £17.1m (2019: £49.1m) ahead of expectations primarily due to land disposals and a resilient performance from our operations in H2. EPS lower at 9.0p (2019: 28.3p)
· Robust NAV per share1 at 235p (2019: 239p) and strong net cash2 position at £27.0m (2019: £27.0m) resulting in nil gearing. Current cash (at the end of February 2021) is £38.5m
· Proposed final dividend of 3.3p (2019: 1.3p), increasing the full year dividend to 5.5p (2019: 5.0p) reflecting our current financial position and confidence in our long-term markets. 135 Henry Boot launches our ESG strategy and celebrates our 135th anniversary
· An evolved strategy focusing on our three long-term markets: industrial & logistics, residential and urban development all of which are driven by positive long-term trends
· Land promotion business sold 2,000 plots and interest in major JV in the Midlands. Capital successfully recycled into growing the landbank to 16,607 acres (2019:14,898 acres)
· Committed development of £312m (HB share £85m) – 88% pre-sold or pre-let. Strong £1.4bn development pipeline (HB share – £1.1bn) with 78% in industrial and logistics
· Stonebridge Homes performed ahead of target after completing on 115 sales in 2020 and secured 57% of their sales target for 2021. Land bank increased to 1,119 plots including a site in Wakefield secured for 149 plots
· Construction business recovered well in H2, performing ahead of expectations with a turnover of £86.2m. Encouraging demand, led by public sector customers, leading to full order book for 2021
· Good start to year, ahead of expectations on activity, order book and forward sales in land, development and housebuilding
1 Net Asset Value (NAV) per share is an alternative performance measure (APM) and is defined using the statutory measures net assets / ordinary share capital
2 Net cash is an APM and is reconciled to statutory measures in note 7.
Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Officer Tim Roberts said:
“Our people have responded well to a challenging year, our balance sheet remains rock solid and, in the circumstances, we are pleased with our results.
There have been encouraging signs of recovery in our key markets, with momentum carrying over, so we have made a good start to the year. In the long term our strategy will be to tighten our focus on our three key markets which benefit from structural tail winds”.