Statutory profit number falls further into red due to impairments and remediation costs

Watkin Jones has recorded a drop in turnover and profit in its latest full-year results.

Results for the year ended 30 September 2025 showed the build-to-rent and student specialist fell to a statutory pre-tax loss of £8.7m.

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This marked a decline in performance compared with the previous year, when it recorded a statutory loss of £0.3m.

However, the developer also supplied adjusted pre-tax profit figures, which showed a figure of £5.6m in the year, down from £9.2m.

The adjusted figure for 2025 reflects pre-tax profit levels before the impact of exceptional charges of £7.1m of land and asset impairments, £5m for remedial costs and £2.2m for the unwinding of the discount rate on its building safety provision.

The group recorded full-year revenue of £279.8m, which it said predominantly came from previously sold developments on site and three new development partnerships which began during the period.

This was down on the £362.4m recorded in the previous year.

The firm had indicated that it expected a drop in revenue in a trading update in October.

Watkin Jones currently has planning approval for around 1,140 purpose-built student accommodation and roughly 230 build-to-rent units. A further three sites have been secured, capable of delivering 1,100 units subject to planning.

Alex Pease, chief executive officer of Watkin Jones, described the firm’s performance as “resilient” and said it reflected a “more agile approach to transactional structuring, and the increasing contribution from our diversified activities”. 

“With a strong pipeline, highly skilled and motivated workforce and continued revenue diversification, we enter 2026 with confidence in the strength of our operational platform and our ability to create long-term value for our stakeholders,” he said.

The firm’s building safety provision dropped £1.6m to £46.4m, with works completed on six buildings.

Going into the new financial year, Watkin Jones has roughly £340m of contractually secured forward sold revenue and total development pipeline opportunities of roughly £2bn.