Glenveagh Property shares have risen 18 per cent so far this year. But Davy analyst Colin Sheridan sees a further 16 per cent upside, having moved on Monday to increase his price target for the stock from €2.12 to €2.21 – well in advance of its recent record of €2 – as it remains “ideally placed to continue taking advantage of a vibrant Irish housing market”.
The Dublin-listed home builder reported last week that completed 906 units in the first six months of the year up 114 per cent compared a year earlier, while its revenue jumped 124 per cent to €341.6 million.
It reiterated that it is on course to finish 2,600 units for the full year, in a market that is expected by economists to deliver about 32,000 this year – about two thirds of number of new homes that the Government has set itself as an average annual delivery target between now and 2030.
“Glenveagh’s persistent ambition to find efficiency in the construction process has driven increased levels of vertical integration in recent years,” said Sheridan, adding that this will accelerate further over the next five years as the amount of work carried out in its timber frame manufacturing sites increases even further.
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Glenveagh chief executive Stephen Garvey is not so optimistic about the Irish office market – where capital values have slumped following a surge in vacancy rates amid post-pandemic hybrid working practices, and spike in borrowing costs.
He suggested on a call with analysts last week that it will be 2028 before he manages to sell on an office block that it built as part of a broader development scheme.
The property in question is the recently completed Freight Building, comprising 104,000 sq ft (9,662 sq m) of space distributed over 10 floors.
The building secured its first tenant in the middle of last year in with a serviced-office company taking on 13,800sq of space.
“We are currently in the process of leasing this office space, and our intention is that we will put this on the market once fully let,” a spokesman said on response to follow-up questions from The Irish Times.
Whether Glenveagh actually reckons it’ll take a few more years to fully let the space, or is being deliberately cautious in targeting a 2028 sale, he wouldn’t say.
