CALA, the upmarket housebuilder being primed by new owners for an eventual return to the stock market, has reported record profits and an acceleration of planning consents for housing.
It says gross margins are up from 16.4% to 19% on a year ago, private completions are 4% higher at 695, and forward sales are up from 172 to 197, as it plans expansion in its key "affluent markets" of Aberdeen, Edinburgh and the south of England.
Alan Brown, chief executive, said: "We continue to benefit from being the UK's most upmarket major home builder, having the highest average selling price outside London of any housebuilder in the top 20 by volume, thanks to our market positioning and geographic presence in more affluent areas of the UK."
Mr Brown added: "There has been a tangible shift in market momentum since the beginning of 2013, with increased buyer confidence and a more readily accessible mortgage market."
He said the early success of the Help to Buy scheme south of the Border, along with the Funding for Lending scheme, had given a boost to the market, including the higher reaches of the housing chain. The Scottish Government recently unveiled its own support scheme for new buyers, though this week housebuilder Taylor Wimpey called for Help to Buy to be curtailed because it would distort the market. Mr Brown said: "I don't agree with that... there is no doubt that a similar scheme in Scotland would improve the market and drive economic growth."
But he said the key driver was that planning consents had been accelerated in England, with appeals being heard and activated within weeks rather than months. In Scotland, the situation was improving but "not as quickly", Mr Brown said.
The Edinburgh-based specialist is three months into new life under 93% owners Legal & General and private equity group Patron, which has set a five-year window for Cala to regain the market listing it held from 1875 to 1999.
Debt of £50m is at its lowest since the group was taken private, with £50m of investment headroom.
Cala has promoted east of Scotland director Kevin Whitaker to regional chairman, responsible for all three Scottish centres including Glasgow, with counterpart Graham Cunningham handed the same role for the south of England.
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