Kaufman & Broad growing in 2022, poised for more sluggish months

For its 2021-2022 financial year (shifted by one month, from December to November), Kaufman & Broad generated revenue of 1,31 billion euros, up 2,5%. That is half the target it set for itself at the start of 2022 (5%), before revising it downwards in October.

It delivered 6.000 housing units, mainly apartments, a little less than in 2021 (6.200), but for a higher turnover (1,15 billion against 1,11).

For 2023, the promoter, who builds overwhelmingly in tight areas, where housing needs are the highest, is counting on an increase in turnover to 1,5 billion.

The major redevelopment project in the Gare d'Austerlitz district in Paris, purged of all appeals since October after a long legal battle, gives it good prospects.

This "complex project", from which offices and a hotel must come out, should take "about five years", according to CEO Nordine Hachemi.

The year should start with a drop in sales volumes, the group predicts, due to the rapid rise in interest rates which is causing buyers to "wait and see".

"We are in a period of uncertainty, which will be resolved when we have stabilized the parameters", assured AFP Nordine Hachemi. The new real estate market "has lived very well with rates at 3, 4, 5%, there is no reason for the market to stop because rates are rising", he added. .

"In the second half, or even at the end of the year, we will have a return to market fundamentals, which are unmet housing needs, and therefore investment will resume," he predicted.

The group will offer its shareholders a dividend of 2,40 euros per share.