Encouraging sales trend ongoing, says Redrow chairman

Redrow was set to hold its annual general meeting on Wednesday, with Steve Morgan, saying the encouraging sales trend reported in the September preliminary results had continued.

The chairman of the FTSE 250 housebuilder said currently, net private reservations were 6% ahead at 1,660, and the sales rate for the 19 weeks to 4 November was 0.71 per outlet per week, up 4% on last year.

“Demand remains strong across the majority of our sites with buyers continuing to make purchase decisions well ahead of build programmes.

“Our private order book is currently £941m, a 29% increase on this time last year.”

Morgan said the average selling price of private reservations for the financial year to date was £355,000, up from £334,000, including the sale of the last of the high value apartments in Central London.

Excluding those apartments, the average selling price was still up at £341,000.

“Our balance sheet remains strong,” Morgan said, adding: “net debt is currently £92m and is expected to be at similar levels at the end of December 2016.

“With this robust sales performance and strong balance sheet, I remain confident this will be another year of significant progress for Redrow.”