UK homebuilder Berkeley targets rental market, raises 2025 outlook
Adds share move in paragraph 2, analyst comment in paragraph 3
By Aby Jose Koilparambil
June 19 (Reuters) -Berkeley lifted its earnings outlook for 2025 onWednesday, the first FTSE 100 homebuilder to do so in more than two years, and said it would start a build-to-rent platform, amid robustdemand for rental homes in London and South East England.
Shares in Berkeley BKGH.L, however, fell more than 3% in morning trading, the top percentage loser on the blue-chip index.
"Investors were largely unmoved by the slight increase in guidance for the current financial year, although this may reflect a recent strong run for the shares and also the modest drop in margins and profit reported for the full year," AJ Bell analysts said in a note.
While thecompany expects a fall in 2025 pretax profit, it adjusted its forecast higher, to 525 millionpounds, citing "good enquiries" for homes in Britain's most under-supplied markets.
CEO Rob Perrins said the build-to-rent segment, to be developed over 10 years, was aimed at maximising its returns in current market conditions. The company did not specify how much it would invest on this project.
Sticky inflation in Britain had clouded the outlook for an easing of monetary policy, tempering expectations for a swift recovery in the housing market despite signs of stability at the start of 2024.
The group had identified about 4,000 homes across 17 brownfield regenerationsites - involving derelict or abandoned properties or buildings - asan initial portfolio for the platform.
Estate agency Savills SVS.L earlier this year said that an additional one million rental homes wererequired by 2031 to address a growing national rental crisis.
"The Build-to-Rent platform... points to the significant potential in the private rental market," RBC Capital Markets analysts wrote in a note.
High-end builder Berkeley, which unlike bigger rivals focuses on redeveloping land previously used for industrial purposes, said the current lack of urgency in the housing market was likely to remain until interest rates begin to come down.
British inflation returned to its 2% target in May for the first time in nearly three years, data showed on Wednesday, but underlying price pressures remained strong, meaning the Bank of England is likely to wait longer before cutting rates.
Berkeley, which operates across London, Birmingham and the south of England, reported an 8% fall in pretax profit to 557.3 million pounds ($708 million) for the year ended April 30.
That still exceeded the 549.5 million expected by analysts, LSEG data showed.
($1 = 0.7867 pounds)
Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; editing by Rashmi Aich and Bernadette Baum
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
