HOUSEBUILDING and property-development group Walker Holdings (Scotland) has described its result for the 12 months ending September 30 as positive, saying it was buoyed by growing consumer confidence with optimism regarding its outlook for 2015.
However, while the business expects house prices to remain stable, it noted the continued pressures on mortgage lending in a market that remains "challenging and competitive".
The company, the parent company of Livingston-based Walker Group, reported pre-tax profit of £5.5 million, up from £4.6m in the year-ago period, and turnover jumped to £25.9m from £19.2m.
According to accounts filed with Companies House, group operating profit rose to £5.3m from £4.1m, while gross margin was described as "satisfactory" and reached £8.2m compared to £6.4m 12 months previously. Trading profit grew to £4.7m from £3.3m.
The business said confidence returned to the housing market, boosted by the Help to Buy scheme. However it expressed disappointment in the Scottish Government deciding to limit the scheme to homes costing up to £250,000, saying it will hamper the likes of those moving to "moderate" four-bedroom properties, which the firm offers.
It also noted that the time taken to secure mortgages has grown, "due to the increased diligence by lenders following the Mortgage Market Review earlier in the year".
In the year, its average price of each home sold, net of incentives, grew to £244,000 from £209,000, and the number of unit sales increased by 21 per cent from the prior period, according to the filing. The Edinburgh-based company also said it continued to offer incentives such as part-exchange and assisted-move packages.
Additionally, it said it continued to focus on cost control, "while maintaining quality as a key differentiator in the market". Cost of sales amounted to £17.7m, up from £12.8m, and administrative expenses amounted to £3.6m compared to the prior period's total of £3.1m.
Staff costs reached £3.3m from £2.9m, and staff numbers grew by three from the prior period to reach 47, with the company saying it was happy to announce the "modest" increase in its workforce while keeping staff turnover low.
It also described its cash position as "strong" and group net assets amounted to £63.1m at September 30, up from £58.8m 12 months previously. Its directors did not recommend paying a dividend on its ordinary shares.
The business also noted that it secured land with detailed planning permission for more than 200 new homes, and said there was potential for a further 220 units.
Furthermore it said it started work on the second phase of its development in Kirkliston "and envisage starting work on a further new site in North Berwick at the start of 2015 to increase production levels in response to improved customer confidence".
Looking ahead, the firm said it will keep monitoring and reacting to the market over the coming months.
Additionally, it said: "The directors remain satisfied that the group is in good shape with a consented land bank to sustain the group's activities for the next five years with an aim of growing its market share as conditions allow."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article