Profits return for Bovis

Housebuilder Bovis Homes, which has its South West headquarters in Gloucestershire, pledged to boost its number of sales outlets today after returning to profit during 2009.

The improvement to £4.8 million, against losses of £78.7 million a year earlier, reflected efforts to conserve working capital and the absence of major land valuation write-downs compared with a year ago.

Bovis, which employs about 100 staff in Bishop's Cleeve, Cheltenham, said its strategy this year would see it invest in new land in order to generate “strong future returns”.

The group said four sites with planning consent were acquired in the last quarter of 2009, while terms were agreed at the end of last year on a further 15 sites.

With £112 million of net cash in hand at December 31, Bovis said it was “well positioned to increase its output capacity, as markets recover, supporting future profitable growth”.

It predicted month-by-month volatility in house prices but said the overall environment in 2010 should be relatively stable.

At the end of last week, Bovis held 969 sales for legal completion in 2010, compared to 772 at the same point in 2009.

Across last year, Bovis generated £281.5 million of revenues from the legal completion of 1,803 homes. As a result of a reduction in social housing in the mix, the average sales price increased by 3% to £154,600, although for private homes the figure was down 9% to £165,500 – 20% lower than the 2007 average.

It achieved pre-exceptional profits of £7.5 million, against £14.4 million a year earlier. The company cut overheads by 34% against 2008.