Property developer Cairn Homes posts strongest financial year yet in 2023

Michael Stanley, chief executive officer of Cairn Homes.

Property developer Cairn Homes delivered its strongest financial year ever in 2023 selling over 1,700 homes and generating revenue of approximately €665m, the company said in its latest trading update.

Its operating profit for the year stood at €113.4m with an operating margin of 17%.

This latest trading update was published in advance of its full year results which are expected on February 29. 

According to Cairn, it is starting 2024 in a strong position with 2,350 new homes in its forward sales pipeline, 500 of which are due to close in the first three months of this year and further 1,600 expected to close by the end of the year.

The company expects these forward sales to net it over €900m and deliver year-on-year revenue and profit growth of around 30%.

Cairn said that build cost inflation continued to moderate throughout 2023 in line with expectations to less than €10,000 per new home compared to the €20,000 per home in 2022.

During the year, the company commenced work on four new sites and new phases of six existing large-scale, multi-year, developments. It was active on 20 sites nationwide during 2023.

The company added that over 80% of its starter homes are available to purchasers at prices below the State support pricing caps allowing for more people to qualify for the Help to Buy and the First Home shared equity scheme.

Cairn Homes also has reached an agreement on the first three forward fund transactions with a number of different State supported counterparties.

This means construction is well underway across these mixed tenure developments at Seven Mills, in Clonburris with 318 new homes, Parkside in Dublin, with 368 new homes, as well as Piper’s Square, Charlestown in Dublin with 590 new homes.

Cairn also acquired back 38.7 million shares at a cost of €42.6m through its €75m share buyback programme. The remaining €32.4 million amount is expected to be completed during the early months of 2024 subject to market conditions.

Dividends paid to shareholders during 2023 amounted to 6.2c per ordinary share.

Michael Stanley, chief executive officer at Cairn Homes, said the company is experiencing “sustained positive momentum”.

“We are passionate about the homes we build and after closing 1,741 homes last year, over 20,000 people now live in the 7,500 Cairn homes we have built to date. We look forward to doubling that number over the next few years,” he said.