Housebuilder Vistry has warned of more job cuts as it seeks to save an additional £50 million after reporting a half-year loss of over £660 million and issuing a warning over full-year profits.
The group’s new boss, Adam Daniels, announced sweeping changes to turn around the troubled builder’s fortunes, including cutting its regional operations from 25 to 12 and leaving the private home sales market in the South East.
The overhaul will lead to further job losses among its workforce of around 4,150 as well as site closures, but the firm is not revealing how many will be affected.
Job losses and cost savings
Around 350 workers have already left the group since the summer, including some departures under a recent voluntary redundancy programme, which delivered savings of £25 million earlier this year.
The latest cost-cutting efforts come as Vistry reported pre-tax losses of £661.3 million for the six months to June 30, against profits of £40.9 million a year earlier, after taking a £475 million write-down and another £73.2 million provision for building safety on high-rise properties in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
On an underlying basis, it reported pre-tax losses of £83.3 million against profits of £80.6 million a year earlier.
Outlook and guidance
Vistry gave an alert over its full-year outlook, cutting its guidance to around £165 million from a previous forecast of £200 million, but this is excluding a £40 million hit from delayed deals and some £470 million in write-downs expected at the full-year stage.
The group looked to reassure that it did not expect to need to launch an investor cash-call and has the support of lenders, who have waived certain banking covenants due to the swingeing overhaul announced.
Mr Daniels said the actions – which follow an extensive review launched after he joined in April – will see the business become much smaller but more focused, slashing its new homes target to around 12,000 completions a year.
Market reaction and comments
Shares in Vistry fell 6% in afternoon trading on Thursday.
Mr Daniels said: “Whilst the challenges we have experienced in the last couple of years have been exacerbated by market headwinds, the review has also made clear that our execution, regional discipline and capital allocation have not been consistent enough.
“These issues can be fixed, and we are taking the necessary steps to ensure the strong performance we have seen across many of our sites is replicated across the group as a whole.
“We are committed to entering 2027 on the right footing and following the actions taken, do not anticipate any need to raise equity.”
