Berkeley bruised by accounts rethink

ACCOUNTING changes at housebuilder Berkeley Group will cut pre-tax profits by between 5% and 7%. The changes will also hit backdated pre-tax profits for the period ended April 2001 by £8.4m, leading to a revised figure of £169.8m.

But full-year profits would still hit market forecasts, the housebuilder said. Business in the past three months had been 'extremely encouraging' and reservations were running 'well ahead of last year'.

With the whole housing market encouraged by the latest Nationwide building society survey of house prices in April, Berkeley shares added 10p to 789 1/2p. Most of the accountancy changes relate to building projects in London. They include Putney Wharf, Imperial Wharf, Chelsea Bridge Wharf and St George's Wharf.

A ninth consecutive year of record earnings and dividend growth was completed by housebuilder Westbury Homes. Chairman Geoffrey Maddrell forecasts further growth for the current year.

In the year to February pre-tax profits advanced by 19% to £76.1m on a 17% increase in the average price of homes built by Westbury to £137,400. The dividend rises 10% to 11p a share. The shares added 1 1/2p to 334p.