13 March 2026
If you are covering Berkley Group's latest results please see the following comment from Oli Creasey, head of property research at Quilter Cheviot:
The main goal of Berkeley's trading statement this morning is to reiterate guidance for the current financial year (to 30th April), and the next, with management guiding to £450m of pre-tax profit in both years. While unlikely to be a surprise to investors, it is a figure well below prior years, with the equivalent figure c. £530m for the year ending April 2025. Guidance for net cash has been explicitly provided for the first time, with the position expected to be c. £300m in April.
Comments on the current trading environment suggest that there is some improvement underway compared to the relative lows experienced late last year. Management have remarked that sales enquiries remain good and that reservation rates are returning towards levels experienced in summer 2025.
Ultimately, much of the sentiment around the housebuilding market will rest on ongoing events in the Middle East. That impact may not show up in FY 2026 numbers, but is likely to be seen in FY 2027 results when they come, something which Berkeley Group acknowledges may impact its guidance.
Of note in today's statement is Berkeley's willingness to pin some of the blame for a slow approval process in London on the relatively new Building Safety Regulator, a relatively new Government entity created in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy. While it may seem bold for the company to point its finger at this Government body so explicitly, we note that the comments largely echo the findings of a cross-party House of Lords committee published in December 2025 ("The Building Safety Regulator: Building a better regulator").
