Cairn Homes PLC on Thursday proposed a higher dividend as it reported sound profit growth as demand for new housing in Ireland remains high.

The Dublin-based housebuilder said pretax profit rose 6.4% to €99.4 million in 2023, from €93.5 million a year prior.

Revenue climbed 8.0% to €666.8 million from €617.4 million. The average selling price jumped 7.9% to €383,000 as at Wednesday from €355,000 at March 1, 2023.

The company emphasised that the construction of homes for first time buyers is a core market, citing a delivery of over 500 new starter homes at an average market price of under €400,000 last year.

Cairn Homes said that ‘there is a supportive macroeconomic backdrop with strong exchequer surpluses, falling inflation, record and near full employment, strong consumer spending and a growing population,’ despite noting the current interest rate environment.

Return on equity edged up to 11.3% in 2023 from 10.8% in 2022.

Cost of sales increased 7.5% to €519.2 million from €483.1 million.

Cairn proposed a final dividend of 3.2 euro cents per share, bringing the total to 6.3c, up 3.3% from 6.1c in 2022.

The company indicated a busy year ahead, with a closed and forward sale order book of 2,473 units as at Wednesday, up 65% from 1,503 at March 1 last year. The closed and forward sale order book value jumped 77% to €946 million from €534 million over the same period.

Looking ahead with confidence, the company said: ‘Ireland entered 2024 with one of the strongest performing economies in the EU.’

It added: ‘There continues to be a significant structural demand for new homes and despite the delivery of 32,695 new home completions in 2023, the highest since 2008, the [Irish] Housing Commission estimates that around 42,000 – 62,000 new home completions are required per annum.’

Cairn Homes shares fell 2.7% to 124.20 pence each on Thursday afternoon in London. In Dublin, its shares fell 3.0% to €1.45 each.

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