Shares in Springfield Properties pushed strongly ahead as the housing developer revealed a spike in profits in its first year as a publicly traded company.
The group – which is behind major developments at Dundee and Perth – saw revenues rise from £110.5 million to £140.7m in the year to May 31.
Pre-tax profits after exceptional one-off costs came in at £9.21m, up from 2017’s statutory declaration of £6.69m.
The results – which led to a shares rally – cover the first few months following Elgin-based Springfield’s admission to London’s AIM market on October 16 last year.
The company currently has 20 development sites across Scotland, with two of its larger ‘Village’ locations at Bertha Park in Perth and Dykes of Gray in Dundee.
The Bertha Park site masterplan extends to some 3,000 homes, with initial occupancies expected within the next couple of months.
The group said a total of 108 homes were occupied at Dykes of Gray at year-end, including 52 that were completed within the financial year.
“The group progressed the development of the Village centre with apartments, a café, a public square and public art,” it said.
“Springfield is now preparing the planning application for the next phase of homes at Dykes of Gray.
“Also during the year, the group completed a land swap with a major housebuilder of 62 plots at Dykes of Gray for land in Kinross with a GDV (gross development value) of £13m.
“This swap has delivered a development of 59 homes at Kinross, extending Springfield’s geographic presence.”
The group’s private housing division – which takes in the Village sites – completed 460 homes during the year and achieved sales of £101.9m, a 17.9% rise on the £86.4m of the prior year.
It has a land bank of 8,757 plots.
The affordable homes unit saw sales jump 60.3% to £37.3m in the year, with 310 completions and a land bank of 3,719 plots.
Sandy Adam, Springfield’s founder and executive chairman, said the business had delivered “another year of strong growth” following its floating on AIM.
“We built more private and affordable homes than in any previous year,” Mr Adam said.
“We made great progress with the development of our Village sites and we added significantly to our strong land bank, securing future growth. In particular, in the final month of our financial year, we extended our geographic reach with the acquisition of Dawn Homes, who share Springfield’s core values of looking after customers and building high-quality homes.”
Mr Adam said the group – which employed almost 600 staff during the year – had entered the current financial year in a stronger position than 12 months earlier and will begin work on eight new development sites this year.
Mr Adam said: “With an established pipeline, strengthened foundations and the long-term drivers showing no sign of abating, the board is confident of delivering strong growth for full year 2018/19 in line with market expectations.”