Watkin Jones reports strengthening revenue, earnings

Rental housing developer Watkin Jones reported a 21.5% improvement in revenue in its full-year results on Tuesday, to £430.2m.

The AIM-traded firm put that growth down to an increasing contribution from its build-to-rent developments, and a strengthening institutional investor forward sales market.

Operating profit was ahead 10.8% year-on-year at £57.3m, which the board said was underpinned by strong operational delivery and tight cost control.

It described a “strong” cash generation and liquidity position, with net cash standing at £124.3m at year-end on 30 September.

The board declared an 11.6% hike in the full-year to 8.2p, in line with its policy of 2.0x cover.

Operationally, Watkin Jones said its work at 13 current developments was on track, with overall build costs remaining within forecasts.

A total of 22,200 beds were under the management of its ‘Fresh’ division, which was up 10% year-on-year, while the firm reached a record residential-for-rent secured development pipeline of £1.8bn, up 20%.

Watkin Jones also reported continued progress on affordable homes, adding that it had “formalised” its environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials with the launch of its 'Future Foundations' programme.

Trading in the new financial year, the company said, was in line with expectations.

“This is a very strong set of results - WJ has once again demonstrated its end-to-end development capability,” said chief executive officer Richard Simpson.

“As well as handing over 12 schemes on time, we leveraged our excellent institutional relationships to drive the forward sale of some 3,800 beds and continued to enhance the depth and quality of our development pipeline, securing good visibility of future earnings.

“Since the year end, we have continued this excellent momentum across the business with an increasingly strong investor appetite for residential for rent homes.”

At 1400 GMT, shares in Watkin Jones were up 0.19% at 265p.