House builder Cala makes £266m loss

House builder Cala has announced a £266.1m pre-tax loss in its latest full-year results after making heavy writedowns on its landbank and reassessing its goodwill.

The Scottish-based house-building group has also had to agree a refinancing deal with the Royal Bank of Scotland after breaching its covenants.

Cala's filed accounts for the year to June 2008 show a £26.5m trading loss before exceptional costs of £239.6m. Writedowns on its land and work in progress totalled £102.6m, while the reassessment of its goodwill accounted for £136.1m.

The house builder sold 678 houses, compared to 718 in the previous year.

The group is predicting another loss in the year to June 2009 on turnover of £180m.

Executive chairman Geoff Ball told The Scotsman: "The challenges arising from the fall in house sales and prices have had a significant impact on the entire housebuilding sector, but especially on Cala because of the historically high level of debt carried on our balance sheet."

Ball, who founded the house builder in 1974, is retiring once the refinancing package is completed. Group managing director Alan Downie will also retiring.

Alan Brown becomes chief executive and Professor Ian Percy will be interim chairman.