The Barrett Board proposes to pay a final ordinary dividend of 19.5 pence (2018: 17.9 pence) per share for the financial year ended 30 June 2019, which subject to shareholder approval, will be paid on Tuesday 5 November 2019 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on Friday 11 October 2019. Together with the interim ordinary dividend of 9.6 pence per share (2018: 8.6 pence per share), which was paid in the year, this gives a total ordinary dividend for the year of 29.1 pence per share (2018: 26.5 pence per share). With basic earnings per share of 73.2 pence (2018: 66.5 pence) the ordinary dividend is therefore covered around 2.5 times by earnings, in line with their ordinary dividend policy.
Under the special cash payment programme the Board is also proposing a payment of £175m (17.3 pence per share), which subject to shareholder approval, will be paid by way of a special dividend on Tuesday 5 November 2019 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on Friday 11 October 2019.
Other financial highlights include:
Strong operational and financial performance with continued good progress against medium term targets
Operating margin of 18.9% (2018: 17.7%), with a trading improvement of 80 bps, driven mainly by continued strong progress from our margin initiatives
Profit before tax of £909.8m (2018: £835.5m), driven by margin initiatives, a strong close to the year and additional contribution from joint ventures
Continue to lead the industry in quality and customer service, achieving more NHBC Pride in the Job Awards than any other housebuilder for the 15th consecutive year and receiving the maximum HBF 5 Star customer satisfaction rating for the tenth year in a row
Strong cash generation with net cash at 30 June 2019 of £765.7m (2018: £791.3m)
