Cala ups building target after resilient H1
Housebuilder Cala Group has increased its annual building target and is on track to deliver its sixth consecutive year of record revenues and profits after a strong first half.
The business, whose Scottish portfolio includes The Crescent at Donaldson’s at the site of the former deaf school building in Edinburgh, reported a year-on-year jump of more than a third in total home completions to 939 in the six months to 31 December.
Chief executive Alan Brown told The Scotsman that the group has been “maintaining strong trading momentum” and has had “a really good first six months”.
The performance in Scotland was very much in line with the rest of the business, he continued, with its three divisions north of the Border “all trading incredibly well”.
He highlighted the group unveiling its new long-term target of building more than 3,000 homes a year, currently on course to deliver 2,500 by 2020, and is now the fastestgrowing major homebuilder over the last decade. Volumes have grown by more than twothirds in that period compared to an average of 15 per cent for peers.
Brown also said the group had “sector-leading” revenue per site per week. Private sales per site per week reached a record of 0.64, up from 0.50.
However, he reiterated frustrations with “excessive planning delays” due to local authorities. That said, the group is “in a really good position”, he added, and acquired 1,571 plots in the half-year.
“When your growth target is 3,000 homes, it’s exactly where you need to be.”