Glenveagh Properties Banks On Land And Innovation Despite Profit Fall

Listed housebuilder Glenveagh Properties recorded an 89% fall in pre-tax profits for the six months to June, primarily due to falling income from its urban division.

The company reported pre-tax profits of €1.4M for the period, down from €13M a year earlier, as revenues fell to €171.6M from €200M.

“Profitability was impacted primarily by lower urban revenues, reflecting a higher H1 2022 comparative that included approximately €63M from the disposal of the East Road site, along with increased financing costs,” the company said in a statement on its interim results.

The group performed to expectation in the first half and increased suburban margin, secured approvals for both of its partnership sites and benefited from strong planning momentum, the company said. Its strategy of supply chain integration, combined with scale and long-term supply chain commitments, enabled it to mitigate build-cost inflation to a 4%-5% level in H1 2023, it added.

Glenveagh said it has been granted permissions for approximately 4,000 units so far this year, some 700 of which are in post-grant appeal periods.

The group added that its share buyback programme, initiated in early January and completed in August, has seen over €60M returned to shareholders, bringing overall returns to over €300M since May 2021.

In June, Glenveagh launched NUA, a manufacturing and new technology arm the company said will lead innovation in modern methods of construction. Investment has largely been completed, and the business will have the capacity to deliver over 2,000 units in 2024 from its three off-site manufacturing facilities in Carlow, Arklow and Dundalk, the company said.

Glenveagh said that it expects land value to approach €400M by the end of 2023, while net debt is expected to reach 10%-15% of net assets at year-end. The company reported that it is active on 24 suburban and urban sites, including all of its large suburban sites required for delivery in 2024.

“We began the year with three clear objectives – to grow our portfolio of planned sites, to advance our partnerships business, and to transform our manufacturing business,” Glenveagh Properties CEO Stephen Garvey said in a statement. “While planning delays proved challenging at the start to the year, we have seen a strong upturn in permissions granted through 2023 and are on track to have over 70% of our current land bank fully planned and available by the end of full year 2024.

“We began 2023 with no planning achieved in our partnerships segment, to now being commenced on two of the largest such sites in the country. We are proving that public and private entities can work successfully together to deliver sustainable mixed tenure developments.” 

Glenveagh Properties’ share price rose circa 2.5% in trading Friday following its results, with its year-to-date stock value up over 17% at €1.02.