Housebuilders says there is no sign of improvement in the market and does not expect revenue of second half of year to exceed first half

Housebuilder and regeneration specialist MJ Gleeson has warned of further land writedowns in 2009 and said there was no sign of an improvement in the market.

In a trading update this morning, it said: “In consequence of the exceptionally difficult market conditions, the board does not expect revenue in the second half of the financial year to exceed that achieved in the first half.”

In the first half turnover was down 37% to £30.6m while it made a pre-tax loss of £5.4m.

The company effectively went into hibernation earlier this year as a result of the downturn and it has not committed to new commercial development projects since March 2007.

It said: °ßThe board believes that a significant upturn in housing demand is unlikely in the near future. However, the combination of the group's strategy to preserve cash, its contracted pipeline of regeneration projects, and its strong positions in facilities management, strategic land and the social housing PFI sector stand it in good stead to take advantage of the opportunities that will arise when the market recovers.°®

Topics