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Vistry Shares Tumble: Swings to £661m Loss as New Boss Shrinks Housebuilder

Vistry Group has reported a £661.3m first-half pre-tax loss after a £475m goodwill impairment, as new chief executive Adam Daniels sets out a plan to shrink the housebuilder and exit open-market building in the south-east.

Asktraders News Team

Housebuilder Vistry Group (LON: VTY) swung to a reported pre-tax loss of £661.3m in the six months to 30 June, against a profit of £40.9m a year earlier, after a £475m goodwill impairment and a £73.2m building safety provision.

The shares are down more than 8% following the update.

The continued stock decline follows a March profit warning that saw the previous chief executive leave and a May suspension of Vistry’s share buyback.

Vistry Group share price over the past 12 months, showing the decline from a 52-week high near 746p to 268p before Thursday's half-year results
Vistry Group’s shares had already fallen sharply over the past year, from a 52-week high near 746p to 268p, before Thursday’s results were announced.

The loss stems from a strategic review that Adam Daniels, who became chief executive in April, ordered on taking over. Daniels has framed the problem as one of execution rather than the partnerships model itself, of building homes with housing associations and local authorities. Vistry will now exit open-market housebuilding in the south-east of England, moving that region fully to pre-sold, partner-funded development, an exercise it expects will cost around £470m in total once its land bank is reshaped.

Alongside the exit, Vistry is cutting its land bank from 51,000 to 36,000 plots and consolidating from 25 operating regions to 12. It is targeting roughly 12,000 completions a year, split 60% partner-funded and 40% open market, down from the 15,658 completions it delivered in the last financial year. Adjusted revenue fell 9% to £1,703.3m in the period, with net debt rising to £468.8m from £293.1m a year earlier.

Vistry said it does not expect to need to raise equity and has secured waivers from its banking group on interest cover covenants for this financial year and the first half of next. Shareholder distributions remain suspended while the company deleverages toward a net debt target of around £300m by 2029.

We are committed to entering 2027 on the right footing and following the actions taken, do not anticipate any need to raise equity.

Adam Daniels, Vistry Group

Management has set five-year targets of a 12% operating margin and return on capital employed above 30% by 2031, framing the turnaround as a multi-year rebuild rather than a quick recovery.

Asktraders News Team
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