Key highlights from our performance during 2017 include:
- 34% increase in profit before tax to £119.5m (2016: £89.3m)
- 26% increase in operating profit to £130.1m (2016: £103.0m)
- 19% increase in revenue to £675m (2016: £565m) driven by a 13% increase in core completions to 2,698 units (2016: 2,380 units)
- 4% increase in average selling price (ASP) to £239,000 (2016: £231,000)
- 110 basis point improvement in operating margin to 19.3% (2016: 18.2%)
- 9% increase in return on capital employed* (ROCE) to 32.9% (2016: 30.3%)
- 5% increase in consented landbank to 13,738 plots (2016: 13,062 plots)
- Land investment of £182m (2016: £178m), which is a 10 year high
- 2018 forward sales at record levels and 39% ahead of last year
*Return on underlying capital employed represents 12 month annualised operating profit divided by the average of opening and closing capital employed, adjusted for non-operating deferred tax and shared equity interests