Henry Boot Makes Profit on Recovering U.K. Property Market - Bloomberg

Henry Boot Makes Profit on Recovering U.K. Property Market - Bloomberg

March 23 (Bloomberg) --Henry Boot Plc, the U.K. property company that built Pinewood film studios, reversed losses to record full-year profit on signs of a recovering U.K. commercial real estate market.

Net profit in the year to Dec. 31 rose to 11.8 million pounds ($19.3 million), or 9.1 pence a share, compared with a 7.4 million pound loss in the year-earlier period, the company said in a Regulatory News Service statement today. Sales climbed 13 percent to 131.9 million pounds.

“Whilst remaining challenging, the property market has stabilized and is now showing some signs of recovery,” Chairman John Reis said in the statement. “However, I continue to believe that the recovery will be patchy and relatively long and drawn out.”

Henry Boot said government staffing cuts within local authority planning departments may affect the number of permits granted over the coming years, the company said. The developer said more than 20 percent of its land portfolio received local government approval, compared with around 10 percent five years ago.