Barratt Developments saw its pre-tax profit fall 16.2% from £1,054.8m last year to £884.3m for the year to the end of June 2023, following a slowdown in the UK housing market.
Revenue grew 1% to £5,321.4m in the reporting period, but the company only completed 17,206 homes – a 3.9% year on year fall.
Barratt said that while “there remains a clear need for increased housebuilding in the UK, short-term demand has been impacted by mortgage affordability challenges”. It said its focus in the current financial year would be to drive revenue through the targeted use of incentives and sales to the private rental and social housing sectors.
David Thomas, chief executive of Barratt Developments, said: “We have delivered a strong operational performance in a challenging operating environment. Customers continue to face cost of living and mortgage affordability challenges, and new developments are increasingly constrained by an ineffective planning system. Today’s results reflect the hard work and dedication of our teams and the decisive actions we have taken as a business to respond to market conditions.
“Whilst we expect that the backdrop will continue to be difficult over the coming months, we are a resilient business with a strong balance sheet and an experienced management team. We remain committed to building the communities that our customers want to live in – delivering high-quality, sustainable homes at competitive prices to help address the country’s housing crisis and drive long term, sustainable growth for our business.”
Barratt also today announced the appointment of Nigel Webb – former head of development at British Land – as a non-executive director.
Caroline Silver, chair of Barratt, said: “On behalf of the board, I am delighted to welcome Nigel to Barratt. Nigel will bring a wealth of property investment and development experience and ESG strategy expertise, which will complement the skills of the other board members and will be of great value to the company over the coming years.”
Webb added: “I am delighted to be joining the Barratt board and to be part of a financially and operationally strong company that is leading the industry in terms of both quality and sustainability whilst putting its customers at the heart of everything it does. I look forward to working with the Barratt board and the management team over the coming years to deliver their strategy.”
