House builder Abbey has reported a pre-tax profit of €15.2m for the year to the end of April, a turnaround from the loss of €54.4m in the previous year.
Its house building business completed 535 sales this year - 395 in the UK, 112 in Ireland and 28 in the Czech Republic. Turnover was €86.6m an the company has decided to pay a dividend to shareholders.
Abbey said the results were underpinned by a strong second-half performance in the UK, but it warned that the UK housing market had 'softened' again in recent weeks, and that further weakness could not be ruled out.
The company said aggressive selling in the Irish market was continuing to clear a backlog of housing stock. Abbey said that significantly lower sub-contractor costs in Ireland had to some degree offset falling prices.
The company warned, however, that there was still a 'substantial over-supply' of housing in most locations. 'Further tough months lie ahead,' it added.
Abbey is budgeting for for 'significantly' lower turnover in the UK and Ireland this year, and lower levels of house building activity. It is planning to invest in building up its land stocks, but it is recommending a dividend of five cent per share.
The shares closed up almost 1% at €4.39 in Dublin, after earlier posting healthier gains.
