Vistry warned that first-half profit would be lower than the prior year in a trading update issued hours before its annual general meeting. The housebuilder's shares fell 10.5% in early trading, reaching their lowest level in nearly 15 years.

The company said circumstances had changed since it last updated investors in March, with buyers becoming cautious in recent weeks. Vistry attributed the shift to uncertainty arising from the Middle East conflict, citing the US-Israeli war on Iran as a source of upward pressure on building material costs and worker wages that was likely to continue into the second half of 2026.

In response, Vistry cut prices and offered larger incentives and discounts to attract buyers. The company negotiated with suppliers to mitigate cost pressure and halted its share buyback programme to prioritise debt reduction. Chief executive Adam Daniels launched a company-wide operational review, with results expected in September.

Vistry expects profits in the second half of 2026 to be flat compared with the same period in 2025 as part of a partial recovery. The company said adjusted pre-tax profits for the entirety of 2026 would likely be in the middle of the range of analyst forecasts.

The update follows a period in which Vistry issued three profit warnings in 2024 before reporting a 2% rise in adjusted pre-tax profit for the 2025 financial year. Vistry owns Bovis Homes, Countryside and Linden Homes.

Anthony Codling, managing director of equity research at RBC Capital Markets, said the trading update painted a bleak picture of the UK housing market. "Today's update contains good and bad news: progress is being made, but market conditions are providing little, if any, help and execution risks remain high. Vistry is not out of the woods yet, but it is one step closer to the edge of the forest," Codling said.