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
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Eng oxirgi yangiliklar
Javobgarlikdan voz kechish: XM Group korxonalari har biri faqat ijro xizmatlarini koʻrsatadi va onlayn savdo platformamizdan foydalanish huquqini beradi, bu odamga veb-saytda yoki veb-sayt orqali mavjud boʻlgan kontentni koʻrish va/yoki undan foydalanishga ruxsat beradi hamda uni oʻzgartirishga moʻljallanmagan va uni oʻzgartirmaydi yoki kengaytirmaydi. Bunday kirish va foydalanish huquqi doimo quyidagilarga boʻysunadi: (i) Shartlar va qoidalar; (ii) Risklar haqida ogohlantirish; va (iii) Javobgarlikni toʻliq rad etish. Shuning uchun bunday kontent umumiy maʼlumot sifatida taqdim etiladi. Xususan, shuni esda tutingki, bizning onlayn savdo platformamiz mazmuni moliyaviy bozorlarda biror bitimni amalga oshirishga oid maslahat yoki taklif emas. Har qanday moliyaviy bozorda savdo qilish sizning kapitalingiz uchun jiddiy risk darajasini oʻz ichiga oladi.
Onlayn savdo platformamizda chop etilgan barcha materiallar faqat taʼlim/axborot maqsadlari uchun moʻljallangan va unda moliyaviy, investitsiya soligʻi yoki savdo maslahatlari va tavsiyalar; yoki bizning savdo narxlarimizning qaydlari; yoki har qanday moliyaviy vositalar bilan bitim tuzish maslahati yoki taklifi; yoki sizga kerak boʻlmagan moliyaviy reklama aksiyalari hisoblanmaydi
Har qanday uchinchi tomon kontenti, shuningdek XM tomonidan tayyorlangan kontent, masalan: fikrlar, yangiliklar, tadqiqotlar, tahlillar, narxlar va boshqa maʼlumotlar yoki bu veb-saytda joylashgan uchinchi tomon saytlariga havolalar umumiy bozor sharhi sifatida "boricha" taqdim etiladi va investitsiya maslahatini tashkil etmaydi. Har qanday kontent investitsiya tadqiqoti sifatida talqin qilinsa, siz bunday kontentni investitsiya tadqiqotlarining mustaqilligini ragʻbatlantirish uchun moʻljallangan qonun talablariga muvofiq moʻljallanmagan va tayyorlanmaganligini eʼtiborga olishingiz va qabul qilishingiz kerak, shuning uchun unga tegishli qonunlar va qoidalarga muvofiq marketing kommunikatsiyasi sifatida qaraladi. Mustaqil boʻlmagan investitsiya tadqiqoti va yuqoridagi maʼlumotlarga oid risk haqida ogohlantirishimizni oʻqib chiqqaningizga va tushunganingizga ishonch hosil qiling, unga bu yerdan kirish mumkin.
