Gleeson (MJ) plc

Trading update

Gleeson (GLE.L), the urban regeneration and strategic land specialist, is pleased to provide a trading update for the period from 1 January 2015 to 30 April 2015.

Gleeson has two divisions:

·      Gleeson Homes An urban regeneration specialist in the North of England, with a particular focus on low cost family homes

·      Gleeson Strategic Land A strategic land promotion business, mainly in the South of England, that enhances the value of land through the planning process and sells it to developers

Gleeson Homes

Gleeson Homes has continued to perform well and total sales for the year to date, comprising reserved, contracted and completed homes are up by 12% on last year.  The business now expects to record at least 730 completions in the year to 30 June 2015, a 30% increase on the 561 units completed in the prior year.  In addition, the Group will once again enter the next financial year with a strong forward order book. 

The Government's "Help to Buy" initiative continues to be a popular, with 42% of our purchasers in the year to date taking advantage of the scheme.

Gleeson Homes currently has 41 active sites, compared with 37 at the same stage last year, with a total of 5,801 plots either owned or conditionally purchased.

The business is in active discussions regarding the acquisition of a further 13 sites which, if purchased, will add 1,855 plots to the regeneration land pipeline, taking the total number of plots to in excess of 7,750.

Gleeson Strategic Land

Gleeson Strategic Land has to date performed in line with the Board's expectations, enhancing its portfolio and progressing sites through the planning system.  In line with increasing activity in the housing market, there has been a further improvement in the prices that volume housebuilders are willing to pay for green field residential land in the South of England.

During the period we sold a 28 acre site with planning permission for 180 units.

The strategic portfolio consists of 68 sites totalling 3,887 gross acres, which have the potential to deliver 20,900 plots.  Of these, 13 sites currently either have submitted planning applications, or planning appeals lodged, and together have the potential to deliver 100 acres of commercial land, a 60 bed nursing home and in excess of 2,150 plots.

Additionally, 12 of the sites have planning permission or a resolution to grant permission. Although the exact timing of land sales is always difficult to predict, the Board is hopeful that a significant number of these sites will be sold either beforethe end of the current financial year or early in the following  year.

Outlook

The Board is encouraged by the performance of both Gleeson Homes and Gleeson Strategic Land in the period under review and remains confident that there will be further substantial improvements in the Group's trading performance in both the current year and beyond. 

The Group's underlying profit for the full year, excluding the write down in investments and the cost of the restructuring successfully completed in December 2014, is expected to be in line with current expectations and could exceed expectations, subject to the timing of any additional Strategic Land sales. 

15 May 2015

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