FAMILY owned Mactaggart & Mickel is weighing up plans to start building houses in England and also looking at extending its rental portfolio south of the border.
That came as the Glasgow company, celebrating its 90th anniversary, reported a 16 per cent increase in turnover from £58.5 million to £68m.
That helped to boost pre-tax profit 21 per cent from £8.06m to £9.75m in the 12 months to April 30.
MacMic’s housing division remains the largest part of the group and booked a rise in turnover from £44m to £48.5m although gross profit was marginally behind at £10.6m.
Ed Monaghan, chief executive, said the division had exceeded its sales target in the year even as the new Land and Building Transactions Tax had affected the top end of the market and the lack of Help to Buy funding in Scotland had hit sentiment lower down the housing ladder.
The company, which employs more than 230, sold 154 houses during the year which was ahead of its own forecast and the 133 in the prior year. The average price increased from £281,000 to £291,000.
Mr Monaghan was hopeful of more detail this month on a replacement in Scotland for Help to Buy.
He said: “There are still good opportunities for sites in good locations for well-priced homes and we are getting a share of that.”
The contracts division saw its turnover fall from £13.3m to £10.4m as a result of the run-off from the Commonwealth Games Athletes Village. However gross profit edged up from £3.2m to £3.3m.
Mr Monaghan said almost all of the 700 homes in the east end of Glasgow have already been occupied or are in the process of being occupied.
The contracts arm is also working with Homes For Heroes to build houses for former armed forces personnel.
The timber systems arm, which makes timber housing frames, saw turnover grow from £4.3m to £5.4m with gross profit up from £725,000 to £843,000. Customers there include Ogilvie, Northcare, Miller and Campion Homes.
The lettings business recorded a slight increase in revenue to £3.4m with gross profit going from £2.2m to £2.4m.
Mr Monaghan said MacMic had sold some Scottish letting assets in the year and is looking to reinvest in England to “have a better spread in the portfolio”.
He said: “We are looking in London and in the university towns, Oxford and Cambridge. We will conclude on our first opportunity within this financial year.”
The commercial property arm was boosted by the sale of a supermarket site in Dalkeith with income rising from £413,000 to £2.5m and profit up from £403,000 to £686,000.
Asked whether MacMic may consider building houses in England, where it has land in Bath as well as consented sites close to Gloucester and Liverpool, Mr Monaghan said: “That is a conversation we are having at board level and we are just looking for the right opportunity.
“We are going to remain active in that area and I don’t think it will be too long before we get the opportunity to build as well.”
The company’s recently launched investment fund is also closing in on its first deal but Mr Monaghan said he could not give any detail yet on what that may be.
He said: “We have put some weight behind it and we are in the process of making our first investment.
“We are pretty comfortable in all things housing, land and property and it was to see if there are opportunities elsewhere we can participate in.”
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