Vistry spoils Xmas spirit with third profits warning this year

(Sharecast News) - Santa won't be visiting Vistry shareholders this Christmas after the house builder issued its third consecutive profits warning on Tuesday, this time citing delays to expected year-end transactions and completions. The company said it now expected adjusted profit before tax for the year to December 31 to be around £250m, compared with previous guidance of £300m.

Vistry said a number of agreements with partners had taken longer to conclude and forecast these to be finished in fiscal 2025 and also pulled a number of proposed deals where the commercial terms on offer "were not sufficiently attractive".

It downgraded guidance in October, knocking £80m off the figure to around £350m, while in November this was reduced by another £50m. The warnings, followed by broker downgrades on the stock, sparked a slump in the share price.

Vistry said closing debt would be "in the region" of £200m, despite "significant" cash flow in the closing weeks of the year.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com