However, Mr Wiseman is taking only a temporary break from the business and will return in January 2012 as executive chairman, in succession to David Holland. Mr Wiseman was one of the four original founders of the business in 2000, following ten years with Furlong Homes.
Mr Holland will continue as senior non-executive director. Financial controller Katie Rigers steps up to replace Mr Di-Stefano as finance director.
In the year to 31 March 2011, Telford Homes reported pre-tax profts of £3.0m, down from £7.3m in 2010.
There was a 45% increase in sale contracts exchanged, up from 253 to 368 open market properties. This success was attributed to marketing London properties in the Far East.
Number of open market properties completed in the year was down from 389 to 281.
Mr Wiseman said: “Telford Homes is in the middle of a two year period during which the number of open market homes being finished is lower than capacity. The group refrained from investing in new land during the recession and, given the average construction period for a development is two years, this is affecting the number of homes available for sale and legal completion up to the middle of 2012. Therefore the decline in the number of open market completions in the year to 31 March 2011 is caused more by the reduced supply of finished homes than by market demand or the ability to make sales. Overall sales performance has been better than expected due to the successful off-plan marketing of developments that are due to be finished between mid-2012 and mid-2014.”
He added: “Profit margins in the year to 31 March 2011 have been affected by changes made during the recession to favour affordable housing and by impaired open market developments that were acquired by the group in 2006 and 2007. As expected this combination of reduced supply of finished open market homes and lower profit margins has brought total profits in the business down. The impact of both will continue into the year to 31 March 2012 such that the board expects profit before exceptional items to be similar year-on-year. Almost all of the developments that switched to affordable housing and those impaired by prices falling during the recession will have worked through the development pipeline by the end of the new financial year.”
Mr Wiseman concluded: “Profits are expected to remain at a similarly reduced level in the year to 31 March 2012 but the developments that switched to affordable housing or were impaired during the recession will be finished by the middle of 2012 and significant growth both in output and margin is expected in future years.”
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