The shares yield 7.5 percent (based on its target to return 2 pounds a year to shareholders), which would usually suggest a dividend cut is on the way. But there's little reason to think that's the case here. True, reservations have fallen 20 percent, a function of Brexit and taxation changes that discourage home purchases. Yet earnings per share jumped 35 percent in the six months to October 31, thanks in part to higher selling prices -- the average price was 650,000 pounds.Indeed, Berkeley felt cheerful enough to make a new forecast of at least 3 billion pounds ($3.8 billion) of pretax profit over the next five years, about 50 percent more than it's achieved since 2012.
Safe as Houses?
Berkeley's new guidance implies a decent level of future profits