2023/24 financial statements and supplementary information for
investors
Paragon Treasury Plc's parent company,
Paragon Asra Housing Limited ('PA'), announces the release of its
audited financial statements for the financial year ended 31 March
2024.
The financial year saw a return to
more normal trading conditions following the economic shocks of the
previous year. Accordingly, our core financial performance
(excluding additional costs relating to impairment and fire safety
remediation projects) strengthened, with the underlying operating
margin improving to 26%. The additional capacity enabled us to
bring forward £1.5m of cyclical decorations expenditure previously
planned for 2024/25, to accelerate improvement work for
residents.
Operating expenditure for the year
reflected our drive to raise service standards, in line with our
new Corporate Plan which was developed through the year and
published in early 2024. Where needed we have invested more into
key resident-facing services, most notably through an expanded
Neighbourhoods team; improvements to our resident contact centre;
new specialist teams to rectify damp, mould and disrepair; and
measures to address repairs service performance.
Sales performance was strong and we
significantly exceeded our cautious budgets. We completed 176 first
tranche shared ownership sales, generating a surplus of £7.2m and a
margin of 28%. A further £3.9m of surplus was generated from
staircasing of existing shared ownership homes and a small number
of other ad hoc asset disposals.
In March 2024 we replenished our
liquidity via a private placement transaction and renewal of some
existing bank facilities. The ongoing support of our lenders and
investors is greatly appreciated.
The audited financial statements are
consistent in almost every area with the results disclosed in the
trading update released on 24 May 2024, which was based on the
unaudited management accounts for the year. The key exception
relates to impairment, as noted within that trading statement, and
the published financial statements include a £15.6m impairment
entry. We have a small number of development
projects where the contractors have suffered financial failure. We
are re-starting works with new contractors to complete the projects
and this will incur additional cost. We have also reviewed our land
bank sites and adjusted carrying values where
appropriate.
The final financial statements also
reflect standard year end accounting adjustments below the line of
operating surplus, relating to pension schemes and financial
instruments.
Headline Group figures are as
follows:
|
|
2023/24
|
|
2022/23
|
|
2021/22
|
|
Turnover £m
|
207
|
|
181
|
|
169
|
|
Of which shared ownership
sales
|
26
|
|
21
|
|
20
|
|
Operating surplus £m
|
38
|
|
40
|
|
47
|
|
Operating margin (all
activities)
|
17%
|
|
19%
|
|
28%
|
|
Operating margin (social housing
lettings)
|
23%
|
|
19%
|
|
22%
|
|
Operating margin (SH lettings - excl.
fire safety remediation & impairment)
|
26%
|
|
22%
|
|
27%
|
|
Operating margin (shared ownership
sales)
|
28%
|
|
23%
|
|
30%
|
|
Net (deficit) / surplus before tax
£m
|
(1)
|
|
9
|
|
20
|
|
Total assets less current liabilities
£m
|
2,421
|
|
2,149
|
|
2,054
|
|
Cash reserves £m
|
133
|
|
29
|
|
38
|
|
Financial indebtedness £m
|
1,314
|
|
1,086
|
|
994
|
|
Properties owned / managed
|
24,317
|
|
23,993
|
|
23,292
|
During 2023/24 our Board worked to
renew our framework of financial targets and golden rules, ensuring
that these continue to strike an appropriate balance between safe
financial stewardship and investment capacity within an
ever-evolving operating environment.
The full audited financial statements
for PA are available from the Investor Relations section of our
website: www.pahousing.co.uk/about-us/investor-relations .
The document includes information about our performance during the
year and future expectations.
Please contact our Resources Director
Simon Hatchman for further information.
email simon.hatchman@pahousing.co.uk
Direct tel 07720 087108
Disclaimer
The information in this announcement
of results has been prepared by Paragon Asra Housing Limited and is
for information purposes only. The announcement should not be
construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities
issued by Paragon Treasury Plc or any other member of the Group, or
any interest in such securities, and nothing herein should be
construed as a recommendation or advice to invest in any such
securities.
This announcement contains certain
forward looking statements reflecting, among other things, our
current views on markets, activities and prospects. By their
nature, forward looking statements involve a number of risks,
uncertainties or assumptions that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by those
statements. Actual and audited outcomes may differ materially. Such
statements are a correct reflection of our views only on the
publication date and no representation or warranty is given in
relation to them, including as to their completeness or accuracy or
the basis on which they were prepared. We do not undertake to
update or revise such public statements as our expectations change
in response to events. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be
placed on forward looking statements.