Henry Boot HY26 turns to £6.3 million pretax loss; revenue falls 18.8%

Henry Boot posted a first-half pretax loss of GBP 6.3 million, swinging from a GBP 9.8 million profit a year earlier. Revenue fell 18.81% to GBP 80.7 million, while ROCE dropped 3.7 percentage points to -0.9%. NAV per share excluding the defined benefit scheme slipped 4.49% to 298p, while net debt rose 23.06% to GBP 132.9 million. Completed and exchanged land and property sales totaled GBP 104.8 million, while Hallam Land completed 556 plot sales and exchanged 465 more. Ed Hutchinson said the group will prioritize unlocking embedded value and expects 2026 performance to be heavily second-half