UK housebuilder Vistry warns of ‘significantly’ lower profits amid Iran war uncertainty

One of the UK’s biggest housebuilders has said its profits will be “significantly” lower, as it was forced to cut prices after heightened uncertainty caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran. Vistry’s shares plunged 10.5% in early trading on Wednesday, hitting their lowest level in nearly 15 years, as it told shareholders its first-half profits would be hit by the fallout from the Middle East conflict. In a stock market update hours before its annual general meeting, the housebuilder, which owns Bovis Homes, Countryside and Linden Homes, said circumstances had changed since it last updated investors in March. It said: “The level of macroeconomic uncertainty has increased, and with it the range of potential outcomes for the current year.” While the rate of sales was higher than a year earlier, buyers had become cautious in recent weeks, “reflecting uncertainty arising from the Middle East conflict”, it said. The war had “created some upward pressure” on the costs of building materials and worker wages, which were likely to continue into the second half of the year, it added. Vistry said it was “mitigating these where possible”, including by negotiating with its suppliers, and in the meantime was trying to lure buyers through bigger incentives and discounts. Together, those efforts are expected to weigh on profits, Vistry said. It has also halted its programme of buying its own shares “to prioritise debt reduction”. …