Housebuilder says switch from speculative building to inner city regeneration will hit this year's profits.

Housebuilder MJ Gleeson has warned that its full-year results will be "very substantially below" market expectations.

In a trading statement released this morning, the group said that its change in focus from speculative housebuilding to urban regeneration projects had caused profits expected this year to slip into the next financial year.

MJ Gleeson's shares fell 7% this morning to 364p.

The group's refocus on city centre regeneration schemes also includes a series of disposals. The firm said that it was in "advanced discussions" over the sale of its concrete repairs business, and reported interest in its engineering division and its commercial property investment portfolio.

It has also completed the sale of railway engineering arm Gleeson MCL to Morgan Sindall for £23.3m.

Chairman Dermot Gleeson said: "While the results for the homes division, which has embarked on a programme of radical strategic change, will be below expectations this financial year, we are making excellent progress with both the disposal programme and the refocusing of the business."

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