Watkin Jones PLC on Tuesday reported increased interim earnings, but said it will not declare a dividend for its latest six-month period.

The stock was down 5.6% at 50.60 pence per share in London on Tuesday afternoon.

The London-based student accommodation developer and manager said pretax profit was £2.1 million for the half year that ended on March 31, compared with the prior year’s £800,000 loss.

Revenue increased 14% to £175.1 million from £153.9 million. This was ‘delivered predominantly from our previously sold developments on site, alongside one forward sale completed in March 2024,’ Watkin Jones explained.

Operating profit skyrocketed to £4.0 million from £700,000, which Watkin said reflected gross margins in line with guidance plus the effects of cost-saving actions it carried out in financial 2023. Adjusted operating profit, calculated before the impact of an exceptional finance cost of £1.3 million, more than doubled to £4.0 million from £1.8 million.

Watkin, which paid a 1.4 pence per share dividend for the first half of financial 2023, said it will not be declaring an interim dividend this year. It said this was a continuation of ‘the approach adopted at the year end...prioritising the maintenance of financial flexibility during this period of market disruption’.

Looking ahead, Watkin Jones expects at least £15 million in adjusted operating profit for the year to September 30.

‘First half trading was in line with our expectations, with a focus on execution and operational performance,’ said Chief Executive Officer Alex Pease, who noted ‘gradual improvement in sentiment in the property investment market, which we expect to support a continued recovery in forward fund transaction demand’.

Pease added: ‘With our established and specialist end-to-end development platform and a sector leading reputation...our focus remains on positioning the business to best capitalise on a market recovery.’

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