Tulloch takes low-cost route to rebuilding

TULLOCH Homes suffered the largest loss in its 85-year history during 2008, but an increasing focus upon low-cost housing has helped the group partially rebound from the depths of the property downturn.

The company, now 40 per cent owned by the Bank of Scotland, racked up a pre-tax loss of 31.6 million as the number of homes it sold in 2008 fell by nearly 45 per cent. Turnover more than halved to 50.7m.

David Sutherland, chief executive of Inverness-based Tulloch, said 2008 was an "unprecedented" year for the industry. However, he highlighted signs of the sector's slow recovery, which has allowed Tulloch to rehire about 60 of the approximately 130 employees it was forced to let go of in 2008.

"With affordable developments in the Highlands building up from 28m in 2008 to 70m in 2010, we have adapted to meet the needs of the market at the same time as enabling subcontractors to share in our activities," Sutherland said.

The company completed 220 private houses and 102 low-cost units in 2009. Its affordable housing stock is expected to rise to 180 in the current year. In 2008, Tulloch booked some 17m in exceptional items, including a loss of 2m on the sale of 4.5 million Rok shares acquired when that company purchased Tulloch's construction business in 2006.

The company was also forced to write down the value of a number of its assets and acquisitions, amounting to a total of nearly 6.7m.

However, Sutherland stressed that Tulloch had not suffered as badly as some of its peers. The company also paid 450,000 in relation to its lending covenants.