Ahead of Vistry Group PLC's (LSE:VTY) year-end update this coming Friday shares are not far off 15-month highs in November when it struck a deal to sell nearly 3,000 rental and affordable homes for £819 million, which was lapped up by investors after a gloomy third-quarter update.
The FTSE 250-listed housebuilder revealed in October that the slowdown in open market private sales seen during the summer months had continued, resulting in expected higher average debt but with net debt to still be cut to around £100 million by the end of December 2023.
It forecast adjusted pre-tax profit of £410 million for the year, including a £40 million reduction in full-year site margins reflecting the impact of transitioning the Housebuilding business to Partnerships.
A couple of weeks later it unveiled plans to sell the bundle of properties to Leaf Living and Sage Homes, resulting in Vistry getting a £160 million payment in the 2023 financial year and further payments as the development is completed, most of which is expected within the two years.
Vistry said the deal "underpins" the stated profit and debt guidance, as well as helping towards its medium-term targets and the delivery of £1 billion of shareholder distributions over the next three years.