Housebuilder writes down 拢93m and lays off almost 600 workers during 2008
Bovis Homes has announced a pre-tax loss of 拢78.7m for 2008 after what chairman David Ritchie called an 鈥渦nprecedented year鈥� for the housebuilder.
The loss, which stems from a 拢93m writedown of its asset base, acquisition and restructuring costs, came after a year in which the company made a profit of 拢123.6m.
The firm saw its revenue almost halved, down from 拢555.7m in 2007 to just 拢282.3m last year, with the average sales price of legal completions falling from 拢179,500 in 2007 to 拢150,800 last year.
As a result, Bovis Homes has slashed its overheads. During last year, it made 598 redundancies, reducing its workforce by 60% from 1,039 to 441. It slowed its housebuilding activities down by 39%, with 1,782 units completed in 2008 compared with 2,923 the year before.
The company successfully renegotiated its lending commitments during 2008, and its net debt level stands at 拢108m with gearing at 17%.
David Ritchie said that 2008 has been an 鈥渦nprecedented year鈥� for the firm, but attempted to give shareholders a ray of light for the future.
He said: 鈥淭he group has positioned itself well with low year-end net debt and commences 2009 with a good number of unsold finished stock homes which it can sell to generate a strong cash margin. The group will also benefit from a much lower overhead cost base, limited cash commitments on land and an expectation of positive tax cash flow.鈥�
No comments yet