Upbeat Mactaggart & Mickel lifts dividend

The family-owned firm, which was founded in 1925, will today unveil a 10 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £4.3 million for the year to 30 April on the back of a 19 per cent jump in turnover to £48.1m.

The increase in profits will trigger a quadrupling of the dividend pay-out to members of the extended Mickel clan to £860,000, with the Mactaggart family having left the business during the 1960s.

Chief executive Ed Monaghan told The Scotsman that the divi pay-out reflected his confidence in the amount of cash being generated by the business.

He said that ongoing developments at East Craigs, in north Edinburgh, and at Newton Mearns, near Glasgow, illustrated the way in which the firm had changed its approach to building.

Monaghan said: “Going back a few years to the housing boom, we would have just built homes on those sites. Now we’re looking at what else we can do with the land. At East Craigs, we’ve built a mix of private and affordable homes along with four retail units, three of which are let to the Co-op, Lloyds Pharmacy and a local hot food shop.

“In Newton Mearns, we’re building private and affordable homes and a church hall.”

Monaghan said he was excited about the group starting work on the Commonwealth Games village in Glasgow as part of the consortium that will build accommodation for athletes.

The site will be turned into housing following the 2014 tournament.

He added: “I can hear the pride in our staff’s voices when they talk about the project. I’m pleased about it because of the benefits it will bring to the business, but they’re proud because of the legacy – they’ll be able to point at the games village and say, ‘I built that’.”

Monaghan said all staff had returned to working a five-day week during the year, with the work having previously been cut back as a result of the collapse of the housing market. He said the reduction in hours – and corresponding pay – had included him and the other directors.

The group sold 145 homes, up from 109 in the previous year, representing a 33 per cent rise, with about 60 per cent of those houses sold through part-ownership, where the housebuilder holds a stake to help the buyer purchase the property. The average selling price dipped to £274,000 from £284,000.

Mactaggart & Mickel’s sales had peaked at 274 during 2008. Monaghan said he couldn’t see the housing market improving until the banks were able to start lending more to customers who wanted mortgages.

He added: “We welcome any news about new entrants to the mortgage market, like Tesco for example. But until the banks start lending again, I can only stay cautiously optimistic.”

The group launched a share equity scheme in 1982 but said that last year’s sales had focused on taking up to a 25 per cent stake to help out first-time buyers, who find it hard to get big bank loans.

Monaghan expects to sell some of the firm’s land bank in England to other builders once planning permission is secured.