Overview
- Vistry, which warned on Wednesday that first‑half profit will be significantly lower than last year, saw its shares drop about 12% and top the FTSE 250 fallers.
- To raise cash and cut debt, the builder paused share buybacks, slowed land buying, delayed some construction, and used heavier discounts that bring a near‑term hit to profit.
- The company said events in the Middle East are lifting material and some labour costs and expects that pressure to persist into the second half, with build costs now seen rising about 4% in 2026.
- Price cuts averaging roughly 6%, with some above 10%, lifted the sales rate to about 1.2 homes per site each week, though activity has cooled in recent weeks and Halifax and Savills both flagged softer UK housing demand.
- Vistry guided full‑year underlying profit toward the middle of its £168m–£283m range and said new chief executive Adam Daniels will deliver his review alongside September interim results.