Henry Boot’s Share Price Rose 2.2% on Its Full-Year 2023 Results

The Henry Boot plc (LON: BOOT) share price rose 2.2% after the company released its unaudited results for the year ended 31 December 2023. The company’s revenue saw a 5.3% uplift to £359.4 million (2022: £341.4 million), attributed to gains from land sales, development projects, and housing completions. 

Pre-tax profits amounted to £37.3 million (2022: £45.6 million), with an underlying profit of £36.7 million (2022: £56.1 million), meeting market forecasts. This success is rooted in our strategic focus on acquiring and developing premium quality land and locations. 

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Capital investment rose by 4.5% to £417 million (2022: £399 million), in alignment with our expansion strategy, aiming for a midterm goal of £500 million. Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) was recorded at 9.9% (2022: 12.0%), slightly below our midterm aim of 10-15%.

The Net Asset Value (NAV) per share increased by 3.7% to 306p (2022: 295p), reflecting a strong operational performance. Excluding the pension scheme surplus, the NAV per share rose 3.4% to 300p (December 2022: 290p).

The company’s balance sheet remains robust, with net debt at £77.8 million (2022: £48.6 million), reflecting its ongoing investments and acquisitions. The gearing ratio stood at 19.0% (2022: 12.3%), within its optimal range of 10-20%.

A proposed final dividend of 4.40p (2022: 4.00p) represents a 10.0% increase, aligning with our policy of progressive dividends. This would culminate in a total annual dividend of 7.33p (2022: 6.66p). The company’s confidence in meeting its midterm growth and profitability goals remains strong.

Tim Roberts, Henry Boot’s CEO, commented: “Our focus on high-quality land, commercial property development and housebuilding in prime locations meant that demand for our premium products remained resilient and allowed Henry Boot to perform relatively well against a backdrop of a slowing economy, rising interest rates, high inflation and decreasing volumes in our key markets. While constraining our ability to bring forward developments in one respect, the government’s consistent failure to make much-needed reforms to an increasingly dysfunctional planning system does play to the strengths of our land promotion business while helping underpin demand from national housebuilders, who are still actively acquiring prime strategic sites to shore up their future pipelines.” 

Henry Boot share price. 

The Henry Boot share price rose 2.20% to trade at 185.8p from Friday’s closing price of 181.8p.