Henry Boot expects its disposal strategy to be slowed by the coronavirus pandemic, but said bids are already being received at pre-lockdown values.
In a trading update ahead of the company’s interim results on 24 August, Tim Roberts, who took over from John Sutcliffe as chief executive at the start of the year, said: “While there is no doubt that our trading has been materially affected by Covid-19, there are early signs of increasing activity across the group and some improvement in our markets.”
With a disposal of its Didcot site nearing, the company said: “There are discussions ongoing with housebuilders on several other site disposals, and encouragingly we have received bids at pre-lockdown values. The new homes market has emerged in resilient fashion, but it is still very early days and there is a need to remain cautious. We anticipate a delay in disposals, with sales moving into 2021.”
With activity picking up, albeit slowly, the company is bringing “a significant number” of staff off furlough.
The company’s development arm has restarted work on all live sites, but many schemes are now delayed, most notably its Kampus scheme in Manchester, which is now expected to complete in early 2021 rather than the second half of this year.
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