Two accountants probed over Vistry monetary forecasts | USAEMALL.com

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The UK accounting regulator has launched an investigation into two accountants who helped prepare financial forecasts for housebuilder Vistry, which has repeatedly downgraded profit forecasts after underestimating costs.

The Financial Reporting Council said on Tuesday that it was probing the accountants’ conduct relating to Vistry’s forecasting and financial reporting for 2023 and 2024. 

The FTSE 250 builder first warned the market in October 2024 that it had underestimated building costs for projects in its South Division by about 10 per cent, affecting nine developments out of 46 in the unit.

Its initial estimate of a £115mn hit to pre-tax profit ballooned to £165mn later that year after reviews uncovered additional cost issues at double the number of projects.

The investigation will be carried out by the head of the FRC’s enforcement division under a 2004 rule book known as the accountancy scheme. Under this scheme, an individual’s conduct must be shown to have fallen “significantly short of the standards reasonably to be expected” in order for the FRC to hand out penalties, which can include fines or bans from the profession.

The two people under investigation were former Vistry employees, said a person close to the group.

The investigation comes after shares in Vistry plunged 25.6 per cent at the release of its annual results last week, when the company said its margins would come under pressure this year despite revenue and profit growth and that its executive chair Greg Fitzgerald was stepping down.

The stock has more than halved over the past five years, though other UK-listed housebuilders have also performed poorly, bitten by rising building costs and policy uncertainty, while higher interest rates have deterred buyers.

In early 2025 Vistry overhauled its management structure, separating the chair and chief executive roles, and tightened cost controls.

Shares in Vistry rose 1.8 per cent on Tuesday morning, in line with the FTSE 250.

Vistry declined to comment.