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AVJennings (ASX:AVJ) doubles profits thanks to booming housing market

Market News, Real Estate
ASX:AVJ      MCAP $173.0M
20 August 2021 04:00 (AEST)

For the fiscal year ending June 30 2021, AVJennings (AVJ) made a profit before taxes of $26.7 million, a significant increase over the previous year’s performance of $13.2 million as buyers seek ‘traditional housing’.

Profit after tax was $18.7 million, while revenue increased to $311.1 million with 953 lot contract signings happening in the period, up from 697 in FY20.

Around 402 of these contracts, worth $111.6 million, are projected to settle in FY22, bolstering future earnings.

The average gross margin remained stable at 22.6 per cent, but the average net margin increased marginally.

AVJennings CEO, Peter Summers, said despite challenges arising from COVID-19, the focuses on “land and affordable housing… was valued by customers”.

“The confidence of our customers to buy first homes or upsize and downsize has
enabled us to deliver 107 per cent growth in profit after tax,” he said.

“Our confidence in underlying market conditions, the lift in earnings and $127 million of sales we carry forward supports the company’s declaration of a total of 2.5 cents per share in dividends in respect of FY21.”

The company has expanded the number of homes under development at its projects across Australia and New Zealand in FY21.

It began with 181 homes this year, up from 132 in FY20, and AVJ intends to boost this number even further in FY22. As of June 30 2021 the AVJennings had 1537 lots under development

“Residential property is a long lead time business,” Mr Summers said.

“As such, the results for the year are not always only reflected in turnover and profit but also in those actions that set the company up for the future.”

In the medium term, closed international boundaries will be a difficulty the company said, but it feels both Australia and New Zealand will be appealing alternatives for foreign migration in the long run.

The company will issue a final fully franked cash dividend of 1.8 cents per share, bringing the total dividends, fully franked, for FY21 to 2.5 cents per share, when combined with the interim dividend of 0.7 cents per share declared for the first half.

Shares in AVJennings finished the day of trading up 1.57 per cent to 64.5 cents.

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