Cairn Homes reports solid year, upgrades 2026 guidance

(Sharecast News) - Cairn Homes reported higher revenue and profit for 2025 on Wednesday, as strong demand for new homes and increased construction activity supported growth, while the Irish housebuilder said it planned to increase output by 35% over the next two years. The Dublin- and London-listed group said revenue rose 10% to €944.6m in the year ended 31 December, up from €859.9m in 2024, driven by the sale of 2,365 homes compared with 2,241 the previous year.

Gross margins improved to 22.1% from 21.7%, while operating profit increased 12% to €168.6m, lifting the operating margin to 17.8% from 17.4%.

Basic earnings per share rose 19% to 21.3 euro cents, while profit after tax climbed to €132.7m from €114.6m, after finance costs of €16.7m.

Return on equity improved to 16.6% from 15.1%, and total equity increased to €836.7m from €758.2m.

The average selling price, excluding VAT, increased to €392,000 from €383,000, reflecting changes in product mix, while the company said build cost inflation was around 1% compared with an industry average of about 2%, which it attributed to procurement strategies and efficiencies from large multi-site tenders.

Cairn increased its dividend by 22% to 10 euro cents per share, including a proposed final dividend of 5.9 cents subject to shareholder approval at the annual meeting on 30 April.

Demand for new homes remained strong, particularly from first-time buyers.

The company said its closed and forward order book grew 33% to 3,452 homes valued at €1.32bn as of 3 March, compared with 2,593 homes valued at €989m a year earlier.

The average selling price in the order book was unchanged at €382,000 excluding VAT.

Operating cash flow totalled €70.6m, down from €134.7m a year earlier as the company increased investment in construction work in progress to €800.8m from €484.3m while expanding its development activity.

Net debt stood at €171.3m at year end compared with €154.4m at the end of 2024, although the company generated €189.3m of cash in the second half and ended the year with available liquidity of €327.1m.

During the year, Cairn invested €102.6m in development sites and contracted a further €77.1m in land acquisitions on deferred payment terms.

It also secured planning permission for more than 3,650 homes across 11 new sites, compared with around 1,300 homes across seven approvals in 2024.

Construction activity expanded, with an average of 25 active sites during the year compared with 21 in 2024.

The company said it was currently active on projects expected to deliver more than 4,000 apartments in the medium term and was working on six forward-funded developments that would provide around 2,000 apartments to the Land Development Agency and approved housing body partners.

At its Seven Mills development in Dublin, Cairn said it had completed or started construction on more than 3,000 homes since work began in January 2023, including nearly 700 delivered during 2025.

Looking ahead, the company said the strength of its order book and persistent housing undersupply in Ireland provide strong visibility on future growth.

It said it expected to deliver around 6,000 homes across 2026 and 2027, including approximately 3,200 homes in 2027, representing a 35% increase in output over the two-year period.

Cairn upgraded its guidance for 2026, forecasting revenue of around €1.05bn to €1.08bn, operating profit of €180m to €185m and return on equity of about 16.5%.

Chief executive Michael Stanley said the company had delivered significant growth since its founding and remained focused on expanding supply.

"Cairn is now in its second decade in business," he said.

"We are proud of the significant contribution we have made to housing in Ireland since we closed our first sale in December 2015, with over 12,000 new homes sold and 35,000 residents living in a Cairn built community.

"Our commitment to growth is stronger than ever and we will accelerate our output to close to 18,000 new homes delivered by the end of 2027.

"Today we are upgrading our guidance for 2026 and projecting sales of c.3,200 new homes in 2027, a 35% increase over this two-year period."

At 1013 GMT, shares in Cairn Homes were up 3.68% at 203p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.