- Firm sticks to current earnings guidance
- FY26 and FY27 profit around £450 million
- Shareholder returns to continue to 2030
Residential developer Berkeley Group (BKG) brought a small ray of light to the housebuilding sector with its latest trading update and confirmation of its medium-term profit goals.
The shares, which have lagged the FTSE 100 year-to-date with a loss of nearly 7%, inched up 54p or 1.5% to £36.36 on the report.
STICKING WITH GUIDANCE
Ahead of its AGM (annual general meeting), the Cobham-based builder said trading over the first four months of its financial year, from the start of May to the end of August, had been ‘stable’, as it was in the same period last year.
The group also confirmed its earlier pre-tax earnings guidance of £450 million for the year to the end of April 2026, with profits weighted broadly evenly between the first and second half of the year, and a ‘similar’ level of profit for 2027.
The board said it welcomed the government’s ‘positive stance’ on planning reform and commitment to driving new housing delivery, although it noted new housing starts in London – one of the firm’s key markets – had declined to ‘levels not seen since the Global Financial Crisis over 15 years ago’.
CONTINUED SHAREHOLDER RETURNS
In terms of returning cash to investors, the firm said it had bought back £121 million worth of shares since the start of May, completing its 2011 shareholder return programme, as well as the first £260 million of the £2 billion minimum return target set under its Berkeley 2035 strategy, launched last December.
The next shareholder return target is a further £640 million by 30 September 2030, which will be made through a combination of share buy-backs and dividends and phased in line with the group's capital allocation model.
