House builder Cairn Homes plc has signalled turnover of €600m for 2022 from sales of 1,500 new homes.

In 2021 the company closed 1,120 new home sales, generating revenue of €424m.

In annual results for 2021, Cairn Homes disclosed that its gross profit margin is 20.3%.

Cairn’s 2021 average selling price for starter homes was €350,000, slightly up from €348,000 the previous year.

Its operating profit margins increased by 450 basis points to 13.8%, resulting in operating profit of €58m. Net profit for 2021 was €43m compared with €13m the previous year.

In Association with

With land purchase activity scaled back and some asset disposals, cash generated by operating activities improved to €89m from a negative €41m the previous year.

The company is paying a final dividend of 2.8c per share, for a full year payout of 5.5c, bringing the total dividend for 2021 to c.€40m.

In January 2022, the company announced a €75m share buyback programme, with €23m of share purchases affected year to date.

Exceptional trading

Cairn Homes described year to date trading as “exceptional”, with a current closed and forward sales pipeline of 1,218 new homes. The house building activity has c.3,000 people engaged at 21 active developments.

The company said it expects to generate a significant increase in operating cashflow in 2022.

Cairn said it expects to deliver between 5,000 and 5,500 new homes in the three years to the end of 2024, mostly in the Greater Dublin Area and also in Cork, Galway, Kilkenny and Limerick.

CEO Michael Stanley commented: “We sold our 5,000th home during 2021 in our seventh year in business and we expect to build at least the same number again in the coming three years.

“Our financial performance enables us to reinvest strongly in our business to drive this significant growth in delivery and to underpin our contribution to addressing the housing needs of our society.

“The company has a broad and widening customer base and our future growth will be underpinned by partnerships with the state, local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies for social and affordable homes, high quality apartments to rent or own, trade up/down homes and most importantly, our core product offering of starter homes.”

Net debt of €110m at the end of December 2021 comprised drawn debt of €150m and available cash of €40m.

Stanley added that Cairn Homes has available liquidity of €234m for growth investment.

Image: Cairn Homes building site Dublin. Getty