The newly formed group’s pre-tax profit rose 12% to £188.2 million against 2018, “ahead of market consensus”.
Its total completions increased by 2.9% to 3,867, with the average price of its homes lifting 2.6% to £280,200. Group revenue improved 6.5% to £1.13 billion while operating margin climbed 60 basis points to 17%.
Vistry said it had made “excellent progress to date” with the integration of Bovis Homes and Galliford Try's Linden Homes and Partnerships & Regeneration businesses to form the new group, with the acquisition completing in January.
The Housebuilding division of Bovis and Linden had a “strong forward sales position”, Vistry said, with 48% of consensus housebuilding revenues for FY20 secured.
But within housebuilding, after streamlining regional operations from 17 regional businesses to 13, Vistry said it anticipated an “8% reduction in headcount across the business including central services.”
Meanwhile, Vistry Partnerships would “accelerate revenue growth through a step-up inland led, higher-margin development”.
Greg Fitzgerald, CEO of Vistry Group, said: “For the last three years, Bovis Homes has focused on putting the customer back at the centre of everything we do. We have also made further operational progress in the year across all business areas resulting in another year of record profits.
“It is from this position of strength that we completed the transformational acquisition of Linden Homes and Vistry Partnerships to create one of the UK’s leading homebuilders. We are making excellent progress with integration, and I am confident we will deliver clear and significant benefits from this exciting combination.”
