Henry Boot on course to meet full-year expectations

(Sharecast News) - Henry Boot said in an update on Thursday that it remained on course to meet full-year expectations after a strong start to 2025, underpinned by resilient land promotion activity, steady construction momentum, and improving sales in its house building division. The London-listed group reported continued demand for residential plots and strong take-up in its industrial and logistics developments.

It said Hallam Land completed sales of 665 plots and exchanged on a further 912 in the year to date, with 2,490 more under offer.

Planning approvals had been secured for around 2,000 plots in the past six months, with 10,000 submissions targeted for the year.

Henry Boot highlighted the positive impact of recent planning reforms, and confirmed it had increased resources at Hallam to accelerate applications.

In development, HBD's £124m committed pipeline was heavily-weighted toward industrial and logistics, including projects in its joint venture with Feldberg.

Take-up in the sector rose 7% year-on-year in the first quarter, and the company noted healthy occupier interest at its Walsall scheme.

The Golden Valley innovation district in Cheltenham was reportedly progressing, with planning decisions due this summer and construction expected to begin later in 2025.

Residential development was also advancing.

At Setl in Birmingham, 67% of units had been sold or reserved, generating £20m of confirmed or exchanged sales.

In Manchester, the Island office project had leased half its space to Virgin Media O2 at a record rent, with further interest in the remainder.

Stonebridge Homes said it saw improving sales momentum in the spring, although completions for the year were expected to fall slightly short of initial targets following a slow start.

The board said the division had secured 486 plots so far in 2025, and was negotiating for a further 534.

It added that the construction business had secured 73% of its 2025 order book, with another 23% in pre-construction agreements.

The group also completed or exchanged on £13.4m in property disposals at an average 11% premium to book value.

Supported by low debt and a strong pipeline of opportunities, Henry Boot said it was well-positioned to deliver a full-year performance in line with expectations, and remained confident in its medium-term growth strategy.

"Henry Boot has had an encouraging start to the year," said chief executive officer Tim Roberts.

"Demand has been resilient for our prime property, and in particular, is strong for our quality residential land.

"We already have 4,067 plots completed, exchanged or under offer, which will deliver meaningful profit over the next two years."

Roberts said there were also clear signs, following changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, that the planning system had improved, with its early move to resource Hallam to allow a fourfold increase in plot applications "already paying off".

"We have seen so far little evidence that the recent global economic uncertainty has shaken our key markets.

"Recent cuts in, and the outlook for, interest rates are expected to stimulate demand.

"We therefore remain on track, although as already stated, due to the timing of key transactions, we expect the year again to be second-half weighted."

At 1057 BST, shares in Henry Boot were down 2.22% at 220p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.