The chief executive of Bovis Homes said the housebuilder planned to re-enter the land market before the end of the year, writes Tom Bill. David Ritchie said Bovis wanted to take advantage of its relative financial strength compared with its rivals. He said: "We're positioning the balance sheet to make investment choices by the end of 2009. There are opportunities out there and few buyers, so we will take these opportunities as they arise." Bovis plans to reduce debt from ￡108m to ￡50m by the end of 2009 and it has a ￡220m overdraft. Ritchie declined to predict whether land prices would reach bottom this year and said Berkeley Homes' decision to raise ￡50m last month to finance land purchases had no implications for Bovis. "Tony Pidgley at Berkeley is in a unique position because, unlike us, he operates in the London market so it may well be that he sees opportunities before us as things recover there."
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