Watkin Jones posts half-year loss over safety works

PROPERTY development firm Watkin Jones has posted a half-year loss due to future costs to deal with remediation works as well as also revealing plans to drop its historic name after 200 years.

The Bangor-based company, which specialises in student blocks and built-to-rent housing, posted halfyear revenues to March 31, 2022, of £193m – up 8% on the previous year.

However, following a review of all buildings over 11 metres tall developed by the company over the past 30 years, Watkin Jones has recognised an exceptional charge of £28m for the potential costs of the remediation work required in the new UK Government Building Safety Act. This is expected to be incurred over seven years. This is in addition to the £15m cladding provision set aside in 2020 which was to cover the remediation of all schemes with ACM (aluminium composite material) or (high-pressure laminate) HPL cladding which were still within the original limitation period.

The £28m cancelled out the company’s profits for the first half of the financial year with a pre-tax loss of £16.6m (2021 H1:£25.8m profit).

Watkin Jones also announced it would change its name. That dates back to the 1791, when it was founded by carpenter Huw Jones.

The company stayed in the family for generations but was listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in 2016. Mark Watkin Jones stepped down as CEO in 2018, with Richard Simpson becoming the first person outside the family to lead the business.