Henry Boot PLC (BOOT) Q2 2025 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Morning everybody. In a slightly different setting this morning which is all very very relaxed and everybody's having croissants and bacon sandwiches and looking very very smiley so it's good to see you all. So to the interim results it's going to be the normal running order. I'll start off with an introduction and a review of performance then you've got Darren our CFO who's going to do the finance and the land promotion. Then I'll come back and talk about development and Stonebridge, and I'll finish off with Outlook. So, first of all, I just wanted to say a few words of introduction. Our focus is on high quality land, prime developments and premium homes and that's helped us to achieve total land and property sales of nearly £160 million or our share £100 million. This is a time when markets are uncertain and I think it shows the resilience of demand in property, prime property. I'm pleased to say we've also seen a significantly better planning environment since the changes to the NPPF. at the beginning of the year. And you'll remember we anticipated this and we increased resources into Hallam last year. And that's already bearing fruit in that we've secured a fourfold increase in consented plots. And Darren will talk you through that. At HBD, planning has also been secured for the government-backed Golden Valley development, a £1 billion mixed-use campus. And then on our industrial-focused joint venture, Origin, it's performing well. And because it's performing well, it's set to grow in the second half. Together with the increase in Stonebridge's land bank, we've got ample opportunity within the portfolio to hit all of our targets. And you'll also see this morning we've agreed a sale of Henry Boot Construction for £4 million. And that's important in that we are sim...