5 September 2025
If you are covering Berkeley’s latest results, please find comments below from Oli Creasey, head of property research at Quilter Cheviot:
“Berkeley’s trading update this morning is light on detail but points to stable market conditions over the past four months (May–August), broadly in line with the same period last year. While investors may have been hoping for signs of progression, especially following earlier summer remarks that sales were running 5% ahead of last year, management has reiterated full-year guidance to April 2026, including a pre-tax profit target of £450m.
“The company has also issued guidance for the following year (to April 2027), indicating a similar level of profitability, suggesting muted growth prospects in the near to medium term. Sell-side consensus currently implies around 3% growth in profitability for FY27, so while those estimates may get pared back slightly, the updated guidance won’t have come as a huge shock to analysts.
“Berkeley has deployed over £120m on share buybacks during the summer, though this pace is expected to moderate. The group has committed to returning a further £640m to shareholders over the next five years through a combination of dividends and buybacks.
“Management welcomed the Government’s constructive stance on planning reform but flagged that housebuilding activity in London has slowed to levels last seen during the global financial crisis. They continue to advocate for deregulation over increased taxation, warning that the latter could discourage investment in the sector.”
