Vistry Group maintains profit guidance amid housing challenges

Vistry Group Plc reaffirmed its fiscal 2026 adjusted profit before tax guidance of £125 million in a trading update released Thursday, compared to Bloomberg consensus estimates of £122 million.

The company said open market conditions remain similar to year-to-date levels reported in September. The chief executive officer reported no change in incentives since the last update, which remain lower than the 8% average seen in the first half of 2026.

Vistry reported no new land sales in the past five weeks and maintained its guidance of less than £180 million from land sales for fiscal 2026.

The company’s order book declined to £3.1 billion from £3.313 billion, which Vistry attributed to delays in deal timing. The company said it has several advanced transactions scheduled to complete before year-end, including both partnership deals and land sales.

The company raised its guidance for second-half 2026 average daily net debt to £800 million from £750 million, citing delays in a limited number of partner deals to later in the fourth quarter of 2026. Year-end 2026 net debt is now expected to fall within the range of analyst forecasts of £7 million to £130 million, compared to previous guidance of broadly neutral.

Vistry said it has begun the refinancing process. The company reported it has not approached its £70 million liquidity headroom requirement since the waiver of its interest covenant, which extends through the first-half 2027 results.

The company said the first wave of allocations under the Shared Affordable Housing Programme 2026-2036 supports a strong pipeline of affordable housing opportunities.

Vistry reported it has started reshaping its land portfolio and begun reducing headcount while restructuring operating divisions from 25 to 12. The new structure will be operational from January.