Watkin Jones saw slight dips of 3.9 per cent and 2.3 per cent in its revenues and gross profits between H1 2020 and H1 2020.
The figures, released yesterday by the company, showed that there were similar falls across for its operating profit, profit before tax, EBITDA, and basic earnings per share. The company said that a third of its revenue was now from build-to-rent, up from 22 per cent in H1 2020.
Richard Simpson, chief executive officer of Watkin Jones, said that investor confidence was increasing as the UK begins to emerge from the pandemic. He added: “We’ve maintained the momentum from the second half of last year and made further good progress in securing new forward sales, adding to our development pipeline and keeping all our construction activities on track.”
He added: “All parts of the business have continued to perform well, and whilst our profit for the first half of the year was slightly below last year, this was because the first half last year was largely before the onset of the disruption caused by the pandemic. The fundamentals supporting the markets for high quality build to rent and student accommodation assets remain strong, driving growing institutional demand, and combined with the continued progress we have made in the first half of the year, gives us confidence in our future trading.”
Simpson was bullish about the future. Writing in the company release, he wrote: “The underlying market fundamentals supporting residential for rent remain strong, as evidenced by increasing investor appetite for both BtR and PBSA as we emerge from the pandemic. This, combined with the growth in our development pipeline, operational capabilities and financial strength, underpins our confidence in the future prospects for the Group.”
