Springfield Properties enjoyed a rise in turnover but “dipped” into the red as the house builder spent cash promoting newly developed sites and corrected estimates made in prior years.
The Elgin-based firm said turnover rose 14% to £84.3million in the year ended May 2015, which was on track with predictions it made last year.
But the firm made a pre-tax loss of £476,321 after it booked exceptional charges of £3.6million.
A spokeswoman for the group said the exceptional charge related to “incorrect estimates made in previous years”.
Without these, the family-owned company would have made a pre-tax profit of £3.1million. Last year the company made a pre-tax profit of £4.1million.
Managing director Innes Smith said: “This has been an important year for Springfield with a number of large private and affordable developments beginning to come on stream after years in planning and design. The year has seen a significant increase in our affordable housing presence in the central belt with five new active sites.
“Profit has dipped temporarily as older sites were completed and investment was made in promoting new sites,” he added.
Mr Smith said the company was on track to reach turnover of £90million for its next full year.
“We anticipate profit to climb as big new developments in Perth, Dundee, Elgin and Nairn come on and the expansion of our affordable housing operations in the Central Belt put Springfield in a strong position,” he said.
Last month Springfield accused Fife of being “closed for business”, after planners at Fife Council rejected its plans for 56 houses at Dalgety Bay.
The firm also reduced the number of apprentices it took on in the year. Mr Smith said the firm took on 20 apprentices and trainees, compared to the 35 it recruited last year.
He said: “Developing young people is important for our continued growth too. Apprentices and trainees make up 10% of our workforce.”
Company chairman, Sandy Adam, said: “This has been another successful year for Springfield. We have excellent people working for us, building great houses. Springfield has invested heavily in land over the last five years and has an approved or zoned land bank of more than 5,000 plots.”
During the year, the company built 510 homes. It said it had about 1,000 people working on Springfield projects every day, with 450 of those directly employed by Springfield. The house builder said it currently has 40 live developments across Scotland.
Originally established in Elgin in 1956, Springfield Properties is a family-led company which began to increasingly focus on property development in the mid-1990s.
Under the leadership of Sandy Adam, grandson of the founder of Springfield, the company has built over 4,000 homes since 1998.