Vistry’s 2025 scorecard: steady profits, tighter margins, cash now centre stage
Vistry Group has posted full year 2025 results broadly in line with guidance, with profit holding firm despite a tricky housing market and a choppy Autumn Budget. The business leaned on its Partnerships model – building for housing associations, local authorities and private rented sector partners – while trimming net debt and setting out a clear cash-first plan for 2026.
Management also flagged leadership change: Greg Fitzgerald will retire as Chair at the AGM in May 2026 and step down as CEO by March 2027.
Headline numbers investors should know
| Metric | 2025 | Year-on-year |
|---|---|---|
| Adjusted revenue | £4,155.3m | -4% |
| Adjusted operating profit | £353.8m | -1% |
| Adjusted operating margin | 8.5% | +20bps |
| Adjusted profit before tax | £268.8m | +2% |
| Adjusted basic EPS | 59.3p | +6% |
| Reported profit before tax | £196.2m | +87% |
| Reported basic EPS | 42.2p | +92% |
| Completions | 15,658 | -9% |
| Average selling price (ASP) | £282k | +3% |
| Net debt (31 Dec) | £144.2m | Improved from £180.7m |
| Average daily net debt | £733.7m | Up from £698.1m |
| Forward order book (3 Mar 2026) | £4.5bn | 67% of 2026 units |
What moved the dial: Partnerships strong, private sales softer
Partner Funded activity – where partners pre-buy homes or sites, providing visibility of cash and volumes – made up 74% of completions. That mix cushioned the Group against ongoing affordability pressures in the Open Market (private buyers), where units fell 11% to 4,065. The Group supported sales with incentives averaging 4.5% of the selling price, similar to last year.
Completions dropped 9% overall as funding uncertainty around the Autumn Budget slowed both partner deals and private reservations in Q3 and early Q4. Even so, ASP rose 3% to £282k, mainly from mix rather than house price inflation (which Vistry says was flat).
Margins, exceptions and the CMA payment
Adjusted operating margin ticked up to 8.5%, helped by fewer lower-margin legacy sites from the former South division. Reported profit benefited from a sharp fall in exceptional costs to £29.4m (2024: £128.8m), including a £12.8m contribution to the industry-wide CMA voluntary commitment and an £8.0m net building safety expense.
The building safety provision reduced to £303.6m (from £324.4m) as remediation progressed. Vistry completed work on 21 buildings in 2025 and has assessed 99% of buildings in scope. Note the cash impact rises in 2026, with net spend on building safety expected at around £70m.
Cash generation is the 2026 mission
Vistry ended 2025 with net debt of £144.2m and total facilities of £1,130m, with the term loan and RCF extended to April 2028. Average daily net debt was higher than planned at £733.7m due to delayed partner deals and slower Open Market stock reduction late in the year.
For 2026, the playbook is clear: accelerate private sales with targeted pricing and incentives, reduce inventory, and convert the enlarged order book to cash. Management is guiding to a closing net cash position of about £100m by year end and lower average net debt for the full year. The remaining £29m of the £130m buyback will be completed, but no extra distribution is proposed off these results – the Board will revisit at the half-year.
Key near-term targets
- Year-end net cash of around £100m.
- Complete the remaining £29m share buyback during 2026.
- Grow completions from Q2 as current sales momentum flows through.
- Lower average net debt across the full year.
Sales momentum and 2026 guidance
The new year has started strongly. The year-to-date sales rate is 1.42 sales per site per week, well ahead of 0.59 at the same point last year, with Open Market sales over 40% higher thanks to targeted pricing. The forward order book has stepped up to £4.5bn by 3 March 2026, with 67% of forecast 2026 units already in the bag.
Outlook-wise, Vistry expects good year-on-year revenue and volume growth and higher adjusted profit before tax in 2026. The trade-off is margin: incentives used in the current sales drive will dilute the overall margin, particularly in H1, before Partner Funded demand is expected to strengthen in H2.
Policy tailwinds: SAHP, rent settlement and London recap
The 2026-2036 Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) – £39bn by Vistry’s reckoning – and the 10-year CPI+1% rent settlement, plus rent convergence from 2027, provide much-needed funding clarity for Registered Providers and Local Authorities. Government expects annual affordable delivery to rise from about 59,000 homes (to March 2025) to around 70,000, which dovetails with Vistry’s Partnerships focus.
Bidding for Homes England’s SAHP opened in late February. Vistry has been invited to bid and is aiming for early allocation visibility by mid-year, which should support a stronger H2 run-rate.
Operational levers: factories, costs and land discipline
Vistry Works – the in-house timber frame operation – delivered a record 4,643 units in 2025 and targets over 6,000 in 2026, with capacity close to 10,000. Timber frame builds around six weeks faster than traditional methods and carries roughly 30% lower embodied carbon over 60 years, which helps both speed and sustainability. The Group is also scaling roof truss output towards about 5,000 units in 2026.
Build cost inflation was kept to low single digits in 2025, with “minimal” inflation expected in 2026, barring geopolitical shocks. On land, Vistry secured 12,599 mixed-tenure plots in 2025, leaning into a subdued market and using deferred payment terms where possible. The land bank stands at 71,501 plots – 4.3 years of supply – with a medium-term aim to run at under 4.0 years, consistent with the Partnerships model.
Governance and controls: issues addressed, leadership transition ahead
Following control issues in the former South division in 2024, Vistry reports that enhanced assurance, tighter investment approval and a flatter operating structure are now embedded. That is welcome. The planned transition of Greg Fitzgerald – retiring as Chair in May 2026 and as CEO by March 2027 – is a watch point, but the timeline allows for orderly succession.
Risks and watch-outs
- Margin dilution from incentives is real in H1 2026, even if it buys speed and cash conversion.
- Average net debt is higher early in the year before sales completions catch up.
- Building safety cash outflow steps up to around £70m in 2026.
- Partner allocations under SAHP are not yet final – timing matters for H2 delivery.
- Macro and geopolitical events could affect rates, supply chains and buyer confidence.
My take: solid base, cash pivot sensible, upside tied to SAHP timing
This is a resilient set of numbers in a tough market. Adjusted PBT edged up to £268.8m, margins improved slightly, and reported profit rebounded as exceptional charges fell. The strategy to trade price for pace – and turn stock into cash – is the right call when forward visibility is good and funding clarity for partners is improving.
The big swing factors for 2026 are execution on the sales push and the pace of SAHP allocations. If Vistry lands both, the path to net cash of around £100m and higher profits looks credible, even with a lower margin headline. For investors, this reads as disciplined, cash-focused and well aligned to structural affordable housing demand – with a leadership handover to track, but no change to the core playbook.
