Vistry shares took a 13 per cent hit in early trading today following the disclosure of the full scale of problems at its South Division. The company's shares had already taken a tumble last month when it warned of a profit impact due to underreported costs in the same division.
The true extent of the losses has now been revealed, as reported by .
In a trading update this morning, Vistry projected a total impact on profit up to its 2026 financial year from the issues in the South division to be £165m, including an additional £25m for 2024. Furthermore, in the trading update for July through to early November, the company reported that overall activity has been affected by affordability issues, especially for first-time buyers.
To support sales, it is offering incentives of up to five per cent.
The company also anticipates a £5m hit from the increase in employers' national insurance contributions announced in the Budget. An independent review of the South Division, conducted by an external forensics team, identified the main issues as deficient cost controls, commercial forecasting, and poor divisional culture.
Vistry stated today that these issues are confined to that division "and can be attributed to insufficient management capability, non-compliant commercial forecasting processes and poor divisional culture."
Despite these findings, no systemic problems were reported across its other divisions.
