MJ Gleeson FY results seen 'marginally ahead' of expectations

Housebuilder MJ Gleeson said on Friday that it expects results for the year ended 30 June to be "marginally ahead of market expectations" and in line with those achieved in 2019.

MJ Gleeson said its Gleeson Homes unit completed the sale of 1,812 homes during the year, a record number for the division and an increase of 69% year-on-year and 18.5% when compared to the pre-Covid year to June 2019.

The London-listed firm noted that the average selling price of homes sold during the year increased by 11.4% to £145,800.

MJ also stated that demand remained "robust", with the Gleeson Homes division entering the new financial year in "a strong position", with a forward order book standing at £134.1m on 841 plots.

The land pipeline of owned and conditionally purchased plots at 30 June also increased, up 14.9% to 15,863 plots on 152 sites, of which 7,933 plots on 65 sites had been conditionally purchased subject to planning permission.

Chief executive James Thomson said: "I am pleased to announce that pre-tax profit is expected to be in line with that achieved in 2019, our last financial year before the impact of the pandemic."

"With a strong pipeline of sites in both our Gleeson Homes and Gleeson Strategic Land divisions, we begin the new financial year confident of delivering further sustainable growth for all our stakeholders."

As of 0930 BST, MJ Gleeson shares were up 0.23% at 872.0p.