Henry Boot returns to profit

The Sheffield-based firm reported a pre-tax profit of £18.9m for 2010 compared to a loss of £11.9m in 2009. Trading profits grew to £18m from £11.5m.

Higher land transaction values and the disposal of surplus properties led to an increase in revenue - up to £131.9m from £116m.

Chairman John Reis, who plans to stand down in May after 15 years in the role, said: “Our strategic focus during the recessionary period has been to preserve asset values and reduce debt.”

“We have also succeeded in our previously stated aim to release capital by completing developments in progress and disposing of certain assets in the portfolio to reduce debt. We are now debt free, which gives us considerable flexibility going forward to invest in land and property development without recourse to expensive funding sources.”

“Furthermore, we will continue to invest in securing planning consents on our greenfield land portfolio to enable us to supply the recovering housebuilding market where, we believe, planning constraints could serve to improve the value of these long-term investments.

“Whilst remaining challenging, the property market has stabilised and is now showing some signs of recovery, at a level which allows the group to make a reasonable return on its investments. However, I continue to believe that the recovery will be patchy and relatively long and drawn out.”

Non-executive director John Brown has agreed to take over the chairman’s role with James Sykes, partner at accountants Saffery Champness, joining the board as a non-executive director.