Cairn Homes chief financial officer to step down next year

Cairn Homes has announced that its chief financial officer, Shane Doherty, is to step down, and is leaving his position with the Irish home builder next year.

After serving more than four years as chief financial officer and executive director, Mr Doherty has informed the board of Cairn of his intention to step down.

The company has said Mr Doherty will leave in the second half of 2024, and that the board will begin the search for a new chief financial officer “imminently”.

Mr Doherty will remain with Cairn for a transition period of up to six months beyond his contractual six-month notice period, to “ensure an orderly succession and support the company with a smooth transition of responsibilities to his successor after their commencement in the role”.

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Mr Doherty said he was grateful to have had the opportunity to serve as chief financial officer at Cairn. “Cairn has an exciting long-term outlook, and I am very proud of the progress that we have made during my time with the business,” he said.

John Reynolds, chairman of the board of Cairn, said the health of the business and its financial position today was “testament to [Mr Doherty’s] diligence, hard work and commitment to Cairn”.

Chief executive of Cairn, Michael Stanley, said Mr Doherty “has played a central role in our growth and success over the last number of years, as we’ve positioned the business to deliver on the next stage of our journey”.

Last month, Cairn published interim results which upgraded full-year guidance. The business now expects €110 million – €115 million in operating profit (up from previous guidance of €105 million-€110 million), and is “on track” to sell more than 1,800 units this year, up 18 per cent on 2022.

The company said it had a sale order book for 2,730 homes, up 37 per cent on the year, that had a net sales value of €1.01 billion.

Cairn also said it was widening a share buyback programme originally announced in March by €35 million, bringing it to €75 million.

Davy announced on Tuesday it was upgrading its price target on Cairn, as the stockbroker said the company was “in a good position to deliver on estimates into the medium term”.

The stockbroker said it had updated its model on Cairn Homes following the company’s interim results.

On the back of these changes, Davy price target for Cairn is moving to 184c from 174c previously, driven by the increase in profit estimates and the additional buyback amount.