{"id":601201,"date":"2023-01-25T19:49:50","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T01:49:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/25\/further-job-cuts-not-off-the-table-as-watkin-jones-reports-profit-slump\/"},"modified":"2023-01-25T19:49:50","modified_gmt":"2023-01-26T01:49:50","slug":"further-job-cuts-not-off-the-table-as-watkin-jones-reports-profit-slump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/25\/further-job-cuts-not-off-the-table-as-watkin-jones-reports-profit-slump\/","title":{"rendered":"Further job cuts \u2018not off the table\u2019 as Watkin Jones reports profit slump"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Watkin Jones chief executive Richard Simpson has refused to rule out further redundancies after the firm this morning reported a sharp fall in pre-tax profit.<\/p>\n

The residential developer and contractor slashed 40 roles \u2013 about 10 per cent of its workforce \u2013 in November last year as it looked to reduce its cost base.<\/a><\/p>\n

Asked whether more job cuts could follow this year, Simpson said: \u201cSadly in volatile times you can\u2019t take anything off the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, there are no imminent plans for further redundancies. \u201cFrom what we can see at the moment, we think we are right-sized,\u201d added Simpson.<\/p>\n

Watkin Jones set aside more than \u00a330m in its latest accounts to comply with the Building Safety Act, which came into force last summer<\/a> creating extra powers to force developers to reduce fire-risk on many existing buildings above 11 metres tall.<\/p>\n

The firm also blamed economic turbulence following Kwasi Kwarteng\u2019s catastrophic mini-Budget for the fall in profit, which\u00a0 dropped by two-thirds to \u00a318.4m in the year to 30 September 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had two forward sales that were slated to close in the last week of September but the mini-Budget sent gilt rates all over the place and the two counterparties we were looking to close with couldn\u2019t possibly proceed with the deal \u2013 there was so much uncertainty about how to price anything \u2013 so they pulled out,\u201d said Simpson, who Construction News<\/em> revealed as the UK\u2019s 16th best-paid plc construction boss in a recent analysis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although these deferred sales are now expected before April, the firm has seen a long dry period in this area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fallout from the mini-Budget is still here, it\u2019s had quite a tail,\u201d said Simpson. \u201cWe haven\u2019t forward-sold since [then] \u2013 that is unusual for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he said that Watkin Jones has used this period to secure planning consents and has a construction pipeline worth about \u00a3600m. \u201cWe are focused on talking to institutional investors about forward-selling that pipeline so we can get it on site and generate construction productivity,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

This could offer a significant chunk of work to the market. \u201cWe provide the main contractor role but we don\u2019t do any construction work ourselves, it is all subcontracted. In recent years we\u2019ve looked to increasingly use external main contractors to support us as we grow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The firm has started to slim down the number of subcontractors it works with to build relationships with businesses that can work across its portfolio.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo we always get the leverage of the group into all our procurement across the UK?\u201d asked Simpson. \u201cNo, is the simple answer. We build everything from single-family affordable housing in the North West to high-rise blocks of flats in London. We have instigated a group procurement function that can think about it across the group and partner with the right supply chain, who can help us in all those areas. It is better for the supply chain, who get a greater breadth of orders.\u201d<\/p>\n

The firm\u2019s revenue also dropped, by 5.4 per cent to \u00a3407.1m, the new annual results revealed.<\/p>\n

However, Simpson was upbeat about the firm\u2019s future.\u00a0\u201cUnderlying sector tenant demand for residential for rent remains very strong, and we have entered the new financial year with a strong secured pipeline and record levels of consented developments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur good balance sheet liquidity puts us in an excellent position from which to take advantage of attractive land acquisition opportunities, which will support margin recovery as market conditions improve in the second half of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Greg Pitcher<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Watkin Jones chief executive Richard Simpson has refused to rule out further redundancies after the firm this morning reported a sharp fall in pre-tax profit. The residential developer and contractor slashed 40 roles \u2013 about 10 per cent of its workforce \u2013 in November last year as it looked to reduce its cost base. Asked<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":601202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38446,22569],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-601201","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-not","8":"category-further"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}