Artisan losses narrow as outlook brightens

Housebuilder and business park developer Artisan (UK) PLC has revealed today (Thursday) that the outlook is positive and markets are strong as its loss for the year to 31 March 2003 narrowed.

Pretax loss for the year was £5.34m compared with a loss of £12.83m, while group turnover was at a reduced £35.3m against £63.3m.

Chairman Michael Stevens said many significant and positive changes have been made to the profile of Artisan in the year. This has, among other things, resulted in the substantial reduction of borrowings.

"We are now concentrating on the core business of house building and commercial development where we feel the most benefit can be derived and I believe we are well placed to capitalise on opportunities in this sector in the future," he said.

"I am confident that Artisan's housing markets are fundamentally strong and the outlook for Artisan is positive."

Stevens added that much energy had gone into concentrating the group's capital and management time towards the core housebuilding and commercial development businesses.

Strong results from Rippon Homes had also enabled the board to approve a substantial budget to acquire further land for housebuilding in the Midlands during the next 12 months