Countryside Properties PLC Annual Report 2019
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PLACES PEOPLE LOVE Countryside Properties PLC Annual report 2019 Countryside Properties PLC Annual report 2019 OUR PURPOSE We believe in delivering enduring value by creating P lPlacemaking a c e s is Peoplemore than Love geography – it is a practice and a philosophy, as much about the feeling people experience in their homes as the physical buildings. Below: St. Luke’s Park, Essex; Front cover: Beaulieu, Essex We are committed to CONTENTS Strategic report 2 Understanding Countryside through stakeholder engagement 4 2019 performance and highlights 6 Chairman’s statement 8 Group Chief Executive’s review 12 Our business model 14 Stakeholder engagement 18 Market review Employees 22 Our strategy 24 Our key performance indicators Read more on page 39 39 26 Operational review 26 Partnerships 30 Housebuilding 34 Group Chief Financial Officer’s review 38 Our people Customers 41 Sustainability report 50 Non-financial information statement Read more on page 31 51 Risk management 31 54 Principal risks Governance 56 Chairman’s introduction to governance Investors 58 Board of Directors 60 Executive Committee Read more on page 5 62 Corporate governance report 5 68 Report of the Audit Committee 72 Report of the Nomination Committee 74 Directors’ remuneration report 77 Remuneration policy report 84 Annual report on remuneration Communities 91 Directors’ report 94 Statement of Directors’ responsibilities Read more on page 27 27 in respect of the financial statements Financial statements 95 Independent auditor’s report 101 Consolidated statement of Partners comprehensive income 102 Consolidated statement of financial position Read more on page 49 103 Consolidated statement of changes in equity 49 104 Consolidated cash flow statement 105 Notes to the consolidated financial statements Parent company financial statements Government 140 Parent company statement of financial position Read more on page 21 141 Parent company statement of changes in equity 21 142 Notes to the parent company financial statements 146 Alternative Performance Measures (unaudited) 148 Shareholder information To enjoy a fully integrated experience use a QR scanner to access our galleries and videos including interviews and testimonials from our partners and customers. Use your phone’s camera or download a QR scanning app. Countryside Properties PLC / Annual report 2019 1 Understanding Countryside CREATING PlacesDelivering sustainable growth Peopleand superior returns from ourLove balanced business model through the cycle with a commitment to quality and integrity. GROUP PARTNERSHIPS HOUSEBUILDING Balanced business Impressive track record Strategic land-led model delivering of winning new Housebuilding business mixed-tenure homes Partnerships business Adjusted operating profit1 Adjusted operating profit1 Adjusted operating profit1 £234.4m £127.8m £114.8m (2018: £211.4m) (2018: £110.6m) (2018: £109.6m) We have a balanced business with two Our Partnerships division specialises in urban Our Housebuilding division delivers high differentiated, complementary divisions and a regeneration of public sector land, delivering quality homes aimed at local owner occupiers. clear strategy for growth over the medium term. private, affordable and Private Rented Sector It develops private and affordable homes on land (“PRS”) homes in partnership with local owned or controlled by the Group, located in Our low capital Partnerships division is aligned authorities and housing associations. It also outer London and the Home Counties. to Government policy, delivering mixed-tenure develops brownfield land in the Midlands, the homes through estate regeneration and Our strategic-led land bank is industry leading North West of England and Yorkshire. developing brownfield land. and gives us significant visibility over our This model is more resilient and less capital medium-term growth plans. Only 19% of our In Housebuilding, we combine our placemaking intensive than traditional housebuilding, land bank is owned, equivalent to approximately expertise with a leading strategic land bank, delivering superior returns through the cycle. 3.5 years’ worth of supply, with the rest embedding strong margins. controlled or under option, which gives us We have a strong track record and good We remain the UK’s only major housebuilder balance sheet efficiency and flexibility to react relationships with local authorities having for which private for sale homes comprise less to market conditions. delivered more projects than anyone else in the than half (38%) of total completions. sector over the past 30 years. Our reputation for Having grown completions at a compound This allows us to develop sites more quickly, placemaking and urban regeneration positions us average rate of 19% over the past four years, providing much needed quality homes, and creates well and during the year we added a further our Housebuilding business is now a business of a sense of place much earlier in a development. 13,900 plots to our pipeline. We now have scale with opportunities for further operational over eight years’ visibility of future work giving efficiencies to offset cost inflation. us good visibility over our medium-term growth plans and resilience through the cycle. s land 77 id d ,3 M ne 1 P S r w C R iv O o P a n t t e r Completions o Land bank by 2 l Controlled land bank l , e 1 ownership status d 7 7 5,733 S o N 24,697 u homes t 24,303 o h r plots t plots (2018: 4,295 homes) h A f or da ble Op 38 2,179 +38+24K55+30+15K36tion +40+24K 2 Annual report 2019 / Countryside Properties PLC Strategic report Increasing scale with a good Quality and customer care platform for further growth at the heart of our business 2019 has been another year of strong growth driven by Customers are at the heart of our business and we take the success of our mixed-tenure model and a full year’s quality and customer satisfaction seriously at all levels of our contribution from the Westleigh Group (“Westleigh”) business. We track three non-financial KPIs which measure acquired in April 2018. our health and safety, quality and customer satisfaction, all of which are better than industry standards. The Group now operates from 13 regional businesses across the South East, the North West, the Midlands and This year we have seen a significant improvement in customer Yorkshire creating a solid platform from which to grow. satisfaction, as measured by the NHBC Recommend a Friend survey, and are on track to achieve Home Builders Federation (“HBF”) five-star builder status when ratings are next 5,733 1,823 published in February 2020. completions directly employed (2018: 4,295) staff 92.5% of customers would recommend 98 39 us to a friend or family Partnerships Housebuilding active (2018: 84.6%) active sites at sites at 30 September 2019 30 September 2019 (2018: 74) (2018: 41) More detail on the Group’s non-financial KPIs is described on page 25. Superior return on capital Strong balance sheet Our low capital model in Partnerships and with capacity for growth improved margins in Housebuilding delivered a return on capital employed (“ROCE”) up a further The Group has a strong balance sheet with net cash of 40bps in the year. £73.4m at 30 September 2019. This is driven by an asset turn of 2.3 times from our lower capital business model. With the Partnerships regions offering the greatest Our net cash is expected to continue to grow over the capacity for growth, significant visibility over the medium-term despite continued investment in the business medium-term and phased viability on our larger and an increase in our ordinary dividend pay-out policy schemes, we believe returns remain sustainable to 40% of adjusted retained earnings from 2019. for the foreseeable future. Net cash Return on capital employed £73.4m 37.8% (2018: £45.0m) (2018: 37.4%) Adjusted Adjusted revenue2 operating profit1 m m £ £ 1 8 . 5 . 1 8 Housebuilding 1 Housebuilding 7 7 5 4 3 2 . 8 1 7 8 £ £ m £1,422.8m Partnerships £234.4m m Partnerships (2018: £1,229.5m) (2018: £211.4m) 1. Adjusted operating profit includes the Group’s share of operating profit from joint ventures and associate of £46.8m (2018: £46.4m) and excludes non-underlying items of £(17.2)m (2018: £(15.7)m). Divisional adjusted operating profit excludes Group items of £(8.2)m (2018: £(8.8)m), being share-based payment expenses and amortisation of software intangibles. 412. Adjusted revenue includes the Group’s share of revenue+59+K from joint ventures and associates of £185.7m47 (2018: £210.9m). +53+K Countryside Properties PLC / Annual report 2019 3 2019 performance and highlights CONTINUED GROWTH • Completions up 33% to 5,733 homes Adjusted revenue2 £m (2018: 4,295 homes) • Private average selling price (“ASP”) down 9% to £367,000 £1,422.8m (2018: £402,000) +16% 1,422.8m • Net reservation rate ahead of our target range 1,229.5m at 0.84 (2018: 0.80)1 1,028.8m 585.7m 594.7m 777.0m 552.1m • Average open sales outlets up 6% at 56 (2018: 53) 615.8m 427.1m • Total order book up 30% to £1,166.1m (2018: £899.7m) 330.7m 837.1m 634.8m 476.7m • Adjusted basic earnings per share of 40.8 pence 285.1m 349.9m 15 16 17 18 19 (2018: 36.0 pence) Financial year Reported measures Adjusted operating profit3 £m • Reported revenue up 21% to £1,237.1m (2018: £1,018.6m) £234.4m • Reported operating profit up 14% to £170.4m +11% (2018: £149.3m) 234.4m 211.4m • Net cash of £73.4m (2018: £45.0m) 165.3m 114.8m 109.6m • Basic earnings per share of 37.7 pence (2018: 33.1 pence) 122.5m 91.5m 91.2m 68.1m Non-financial measures 51.6m 127.8m 110.6m 79.4m 56.8m • Total land bank increased to 49,000 plots 39.6m (2018: 43,523 plots) 15 16 17 18 19 Financial year • Accident Injury Incident Rate (“AIIR”)7 of 227 (2018: 162) • NHBC Recommend a Friend score of 92.5% (2018: 84.6%) Tangible net asset value5,6 £m • NHBC Reportable Items of 0.21 per inspection (2018: 0.22) £737.8m +19% 737.8m 1.