Strong growth in Britain more than offset a slight fall-off in completions in the domestic market last year, homebuilder McInerney said yesterday.
In a trading update ahead of full-year figures, McInerney said housing completions in the UK market were 50 per cent ahead of the 2005 figure.
This more than compensated for a decline in the company's level of completions in Ireland to 1,025 last year from 1,138 in 2005.
Analysts were unperturbed by the decline in the Irish figures despite overall growth in the domestic market last year, noting that it had been well flagged.
They said rising house prices would help offset the decline in completions in Ireland, all of which will be offset by the strong performance in the UK.
McInerney completed 2,372 private homes in Ireland, Britain and Spain last year, up 18 per cent on 2005. As of the end of December, the homebuilder had received deposits for 836 properties across the three regions.
McInerney managing director Barry O'Connor described 2006 as a milestone, citing the significant growth in the UK, where it made two acquisitions. "The group is very well positioned for 2007," he said. "The fundamentals are strong across all our regions. We expect to see further progress across the group's operations in the year ahead."
Following the statement, the company's stockbroker, Davy, raised its price target for the group's shares to €17.50 on the back of its "measured expansion in the UK". Shares in the company closed up just one cent yesterday, at €15.91.
In Britain, McInerney completed 980 homes, up from 658 in 2005. The group has focused its UK operations on central and northern England, which have not been affected by the price declines seen in some parts of southern England.
Broker NCB noted that it was building on 58 UK sites compared to 38 at the same time last year, which should ensure further growth in completions in 2007.
In Spain completions were up 51 per cent, at 53 units. Hillview Developments, McInerney's commercial division in the UK and Ireland, completed 13,108sq m of industrial units, a 15 per cent decline on the previous year.
McInerney will publish detailed full-year figures next month.
