Cairn Homes swings to profit on improved sales
CAIRN HOMES
£1.34
17:35 26/04/24
Irish house builder Cairn Homes saw pre-tax profits hit €6m in its most recent trading year, as a turnaround in sales pulled the company out of the red and free of the €2.8m loss seen a year earlier.
Cairn grew revenues from €40.9m to €149.5m in in the twelve months leading to 31 December, selling 418 new homes at an average of €315,000 each.
Operating profits rocketed more than 400% year-on-year to €14.9m during the period from the €3.6m seen in 2016.
Cairn had kicked off building on eleven new sites around Dublin which, when completed, would hold almost 4,000 new homes and also expects to begin work on an additional three locations before the end of the year.
The Dublin-based firm had a net debt of €159.4m as of 31 December, much of which was due to its €150m buying spree throughout the year, as Cairn acquired suitable sites, most of which are located on three properties in the Irish capital.
Cairn also had a net cash position of €85.8m
The company expects revenues to hit €350m in the current fiscal year, with a gross margin of around 20%, thanks to a housing shortage that continued to drive demand for new homes.
Michael Stanley, Cairn's chief executive, said, "Last year we focused on delivering new homes of high quality and we are very pleased with the progress made on new site commencements, units constructed and new homes sold, all of which exceeded our expectations."
"The Greater Dublin Area needs at least 20,000 new homes per annum for the next ten years and 2017 supply was 4,000 new homes. The Cairn team is very well placed to make a significant contribution to narrow this gap and we look forward with confidence," he added.
As of 1000 GMT, shares were mostly flat - up just 0.03% to €1.75 each.