Vistry faces £500m valuation loss as new CEO orders drastic downsizing

Vistry disclosed that its assets are worth £475 million less than previously recorded, creating a nearly £500 million hit to its valuation and a £661 million pre-tax loss for the six months ending June, a sharp reversal from last year’s profit. New chief executive Adam Daniels, who succeeded retiring boss Greg Fitzgerald, urged shareholders to approve an immediate reduction in housebuilding output and a simplification of the business to lower leverage and improve cash conversion.

The loss was driven by heavy discounting of homes, a £73 million rise in the building-safety levy and a slowdown that saw 6,304 homes built, eight percent fewer than a year earlier. Vistry’s share price has fallen almost 60 percent this year, and a revaluation of its landbank is expected to cut full-year profit by £250 million, prompting a £40 million reduction in the profit target to £165 million. Daniels highlighted a £350 million government affordable-housing grant and the start of work on 3,000 homes as positive signs for the turnaround.