Profits at Britain’s biggest housebuilder have almost halved after sales and construction work were hit by the pandemic.
Barratt Developments said the Covid-19 crisis had caused “significant disruption” to its business after it was forced to temporarily shut its building sites to protect staff from the virus. Sales were also hit after the government froze the property market.
Pre-tax profits for the 12 months to the end of June dropped by almost 46 per cent to £491.8 million on revenues that were down 28.2 per cent to £3.4 billion. Total home completions fell to 12,604 from 17,856 a year earlier.
The company said that it had a “resilient” balance sheet despite the crisis, with £308.2 million in net cash at June 30.
Barratt had previously
