Barratt and Redrow have announced massive negative swings in their pre-tax profits in the year to June 30.
Barratt’s profits before tax slid 68% to £137.3m, while Redrow’s pre-tax profits fell from £121.1m to a loss of £193.9m.
Redrow recorded total completions of 3,925, down from 4,823 in the year to June 30, 2007. This saw revenues drop from £834.3m to £650.1m.
Barratt’s completion level rose by 8.3% to 18,588, increasing its revenues by 16.7% to £3.6bn. However, forward sales as of June 30 have fallen from £1.4bn to £697.6m.
“There is little prospect for any material improvement in trading conditions until mortgage finance and customer confidence return,” said Barratt group chief executive Mark Clare.
“Our focus today and looking forward is to maximise sales revenues, reduce costs and generate cash to reduce debt.”
Both housebuilders have announced massive job cuts since the turn of the year, with Redrow shifting around 40% of its workforce and Barratt announcing 1,200 job losses through the closure of two divisions and merging a further eight divisions into four.
