Housebuilder Bovis Homes said profit is likely to be lower than originally forecast, after a slow December meant 180 sales failed to complete before the year end.
The company was not able to deliver the number of houses it originally expected in 2016, meaning it will now likely miss previous profit forecasts and deliver a result between £160 million to £170 million. Analysts were expecting the group to confirm an average profit of £183 million.
Today, the firm said in a trading statement:
“We expect the volume delivery for 2016 will be lower than previously anticipated at between 3,950 and 4,000 homes, the exact number depending on the extent of legal completions in the remaining days of the year.
“We have experienced slower than expected build production across the Group’s sites during December, resulting in approximately 180 largely built and sold private homes which were expected to complete in 2016 being deferred into early 2017″.
Shares in Bovis Homes (LON:BVS) fell over 5 percent on Wednesday as investors reacted to the news. The company are currently trading down 5.02 percent at 813.00 (1417GMT).
Other housebuilders’ shares were also hit by the news, with Berkeley Group (LON:BKG) down 1.23 percent at 2,816.00 and Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW) down 0.13 percent at 153.70.
Britain’s property market slowed in the wake of the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, but has since shown improvement alongside rising house prices. Bovis had previously said average sales prices in 2016 were 10 percent on the previous year, but added that its profit margin was “expected to reduce modestly”.