McCarthy & Stone passes £100m profit barrier

Retirement home builder McCarthy & Stone broke through the £100m pre-tax profit barrier in the year to 31 August. Its total stood at £116m, a 54% rise on the previous year.

Turnover increased 36% from £188.1m to £255.1m, driven by 17% boosts in both the volume and value of house sales. The number sold increased from 1,671 to 1,948 while the average sale price was up from £112,000 to £130,900.

The increase in volume was driven by strong performances in the South West, Scotland, North West and South East. The only region that turned in a poor performance was in the west. More than 50% of sales completions were obtained as a direct results of the McCarthy & Stone website.

Basic build costs increased by 4% year-on-year, but the group has suffered delays from key materials suppliers. These delays will effect stock availability in the group's current financial year.

While anouncing the results, chairman and chief executive Keith Lovelock took the opportunity to complain about planning delays. "We have seen no improvement in the 54 weeks average time that it has taken us to achieve a consent."