Cairn Homes surges ahead as construction activity increases

Irish housebuilder Cairn Homes announced its preliminary results for the twelve months to 31 December on Thursday, with total revenues of €40.9m, surging from €3.7m in 2015.

The London-listed firm posted a gross profit of €7.1m, up from €0.7m, and a gross profit margin of 17.3%.

Operating profit was €3.6m, swinging from a 2015 operating loss of €3.8m.

The company added that it intends to seek a primary listing on the Irish Stock Exchange during 2017.

“We have made significant progress during 2016, both in terms of construction activity and sales performance,” said CEO Michael Stanley.

“We are now building on seven sites in the Greater Dublin Area, with additional sites due to commence later this year.

“The company is today supporting over 1,000 new construction jobs.”

Stanley said Cairn’s rate of forward sales accelerated significantly in the early part of 2017, with forward sales today standing at 301 units, with a gross sales value of €121.2m.

“Looking forward, Cairn will be selling homes at six individual developments by Autumn 2017.

“We believe that this expansion is well timed, as the supply [and] demand imbalance for new homes, particularly in the Greater Dublin Area, where the vast majority of our land bank is located, remains as stark as it was at the time of our IPO.”

He explained that 2017 would be a “transformative” year for Cairn, and with strengthening mortgage backed demand, the board now expected to close between 375 and 400 units in the current year.

“This underpins our confidence in achieving our 2018 and 2019 targets of in excess of 850 units and 1,200 units respectively.”