- Revenue down 12 per cent to £362mn
- Adjusted pre-tax profit of £9.2mn (loss of £2.9mn in 2023)
- Net cash improves from £43.9mn to £83.4mn
- Share price rallies 24 per cent
Purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) and build-to-rent (BTR) housing developer Watkin Jones (WJG: 24.4p) returned to underlying profit in the 2024 financial year, albeit £9.5mn of costs associated with building safety led to a small reported pre-tax loss of £0.3mn.
It was a resilient performance nonetheless in the context of a difficult investment market. The slow pace of interest rate cuts and last year’s earlier than expected general election meant that while investor sentiment remained positive, transactional activity on developments has not improved as quickly as expected, and so the group only closed two forward sales as a result.