Annual Report 2024

Built

For

Good

At Cairn, it’s not what we build, it’s why we build. It’s about putting down a marker that will stand for generations to come. Creating new communities of connection and belonging for an Ireland where people can thrive. Building for people, progress, and potential.

Because when Cairn build, it’s Built For Good.

Cairn is a home and community builder, leading the market in creating sustainable foundations upon which Ireland can thrive.

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Highlights

2024 Financial Highlights

The Company delivered a strong financial and operational performance in 2024, achieving significant growth in housing output and generating meaningful returns for our shareholders with a Return on Equity of 15.1%.

Revenue

€859.9m

2023: €666.8m

Gross profit

€187.0m

2023: €147.6m

OPERATING PROFIT

€150.0m

2023: €113.4m

OPERATING MARGIN

17.4%

2023: 17.0%

wip spend

€484.3m

2023: €439.9m

operating cashflow

€134.7m

2023: €107.0m

ROE¹

15.1%

2023: 11.3%

dps²

8.2 cent

2023: 6.3 cent

units³

2,241

2023: 1,741

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¹ROE (Return on Equity) is defined as profit after tax divided by total equity atyear end. Calculated as €114.6m/€758.2m (2023: €85.4m/€757.2m).

²FY24 8.2 cent dividend per ordinary share represents a 3.8 cent interim dividend per ordinary share paid in October 2024 and 4.4 cent proposed final dividend per ordinary share.

³This comprises both closed sales and equivalent units. Equivalent units relate to forward fund transactions which are calculated on a percentage completion basis based on the constructed value of work completed divided by total estimated cost.

2024 Operational Highlights

Our established operating platform allows us to deliver at industry leading pace, scale and value for money.

Unit Commencements

4,100+
2023: 1,741

Active Sites

21
2023: 20

New Site Commencements

10
2023: 4

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2024 KPIs / Performance Metrics

88%

of employees believe Cairn is a great place to work

5,200+

people moved into a Cairn home

Top 3

Ranked by Great Place To Work Ireland as third in the top 10 Best Large Workplaces in Ireland.

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Statements

“We are committed to building thoughtfully designed, high-quality and sustainable homes for our customers.”

At Cairn, our mission goes beyond building houses –we aim to create enduring homes and communities where people can thrive for generations. In 2024, we continued our efforts to create high-quality, energy efficient homes designed to stand the test of time. As one of Ireland’s leading homebuilders, we have delivered over 10,000 A-rated homes to date, with over 30,000 people now calling Cairn-built neighbourhoods home.

Our end-to-end operating platform, sustainable construction model, and in-house expertise enable us to build homes that meet the growing demand for high-quality, energy efficient and affordable housing in Ireland. As we continue to grow and evolve, we remain committed to addressing the evolving needs of Ireland’s population.

JOHN REYNOLDS

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

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“Our operating platform continues to set us apart, delivering high-quality competitively priced homes to our customers”.

2024 was an exceptional year for Cairn as we grew our business by 30%. This represents the biggest annual step-up in operational and volume growth since the Company was established almost a decade ago. Our operating platform continues to set us apart, delivering high-quality competitively priced homes to our customers. We continue to show leadership within our industry, delivering homes that set the industry standard for energy efficiency and sustainability. My colleagues and I are proud that nearly 30,000 residents live in a Cairn built home.

MICHAEL STANLEY

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

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Built for Good

At Cairn, it’s not about what we build, it’s about why we build...

We build communities

2024 saw us scale our community building efforts in a significant way. Our Home Together initiative continues to expand to new developments. Our sponsorship of the Cairn Community Games has increased our impact with a €3 million investment over a four year period to grow awareness and participation in an organisation that aligns perfectly with our commitment to building thriving communities.

We build partnerships

Collaboration and partnership is at the core of what we do. Building stong partnerships with supply chain partners, customers and landowners, working together to create quality homes and communities. Through collaboration, trust, and shared expertise, we deliver sustainable, efficient solutions that meet housing needs and enhance the lives of residents and stakeholders.

We build foundations for future generations

We are accelerating our investment in the education and training of our team, our partners and the next generation of our industry. Our ongoing work with the Supply Chain Sustainability School Ireland, Childrens Books Ireland , Mentorships and Transition Year Programmes are all the examples of our leadership in this area. In 2024 we also launched the Cairn Apprenticeship Programme, with a €10 million investment over five years, attracting more young people to our industry and training them to the highest standards of skill and innovation.

We build a
sustainable future

In 2024 we significantly increased our investment in Passive House standard commencements, with over 1,750 units under construction, setting new standards for energy efficiency. This will increase to 2,750 - 3,000 by the end of 2025. Our commitment to sustainable construction, habitat preservation and biodiversity net gain all demonstrate a commitment to creating long-lasting positive impacts for communities and the environment.

IN NUMBERS

75,000+

tonnes of CO2 saved over four passive developments

€10m

Investment in the Cairn Apprenticeship Programme

2,150+

New homes being delivered under forward funded partnerships with State supported counterparties

160,000+

young people participating in the Cairn Community Games

Our Portfolio

Strategically located and low cost landbank

We have a landbank of c. 16,150 units (across 38 sites nationwide) located in areas with excellent public transport and infrastructure links, allowing communities to thrive.

Click on pins to read more about some key developments

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Seven Mills (Dublin 22)

Charlestown (Dublin 11)

Sorrell Wood (Wicklow)

Archers Wood (Wicklow)

Nyne Park (Kilkenny)

Bayly (Cork)

Our Strategy

Adding value at every step

Our end-to-end delivery platform allows us to control our entire product lifecyle, meaning we create value where others can’t. At Cairn, delivering value and quality to all of our stakeholders is at the centre of everything we do.

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Land acquisition

Our land acquisition strategy is focussed on identifying sites with strong infrastructure and transport links, and evaluating how to best utilise the land to create optimal value.

Land acquisition

Our land acquisition strategy is focussed on identifying sites with strong infrastructure and transport links, and evaluating how to best utilise the land to create optimal value.

Construction

Our expanding operating and delivery platform allows us to leverage our scale to delvier value to all of our stakeholders. Through initiatives such as group procurement and standardisation we are able to leverage our position as Ireland’s largest homebuilder.

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Land acquisition

Our land acquisition strategy is focussed on identifying sites with strong infrastructure and transport links, and evaluating how to best utilise the land to create optimal value.

Land acquisition

Our land acquisition strategy is focussed on identifying sites with strong infrastructure and transport links, and evaluating how to best utilise the land to create optimal value.

Construction

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Business Model

Adding value at every step

Our unique end-to-end scaled operating platform means we control our entire product life cycle and allows us to leverage our operational competitive advantages to deliver quality and value at every step.

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Land Acquisition

Our strategy centres on identifying sites that are complementary to our existing landbank, well-located and that represent value accretive opportunities. In 2024, we evolved our land acquisition strategy to include subject to planning deals, options and potential joint ventures. These structures provide strategic optionality, allowing us to leverage our operating platform, and are an efficient way to acquire land.

Planning

We manage all of our planning applications, leading the full lifecycle of the application process ensuring that commercial outcomes are maximised in a timely manner.

Pre-Construction

Our pre-construction team operates in tandem with the planning process, allowing the pre-construction and design teams to mobilise in preparation to start on site as soon as we receive planning grants.

Construction

Our scaled operating platform allows our construction team to deliver at pace, scale and value for money. We continue to leverage our proven apartment capability as Ireland’s largest self-build developer delivering much needed apartments nationwide.

Sales and Customer Care

Understanding and exceeding the diverse needs of our broad customer pool is at the heart of our operating platform. Both our sales and customer care teams are dedicated to not only gathering but acting on our customer insights and feedback, ensuring that we remain their partner of choice.

Our Strategy

Creating long-term sustainable value for our stakeholders

Cairn’s corporate strategy is to deliver sustainable new homes to our customers at pace, scale and value for money. We are building communities that serve our country’s present and future needs. Cairn continues to invest in the capacity and capability of our business to support our growth strategy and to optimise our product delivery. Our strategy links back to our purpose, with each pillar aligning to one of the four component parts – People, Customers, Construction and Sustainable Communities.

In 2024 we continued to scale and grow our business with the addition of 168 new employees. We received over 10,000 job applications which demonstrates the extensive reach of our brand in attracting diverse talent into Cairn.

Progress and Achievements in 2024

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We invested heavily in receiving feedback from employees throughout the year and actively worked to respond with targeted initiatives. We established a cross-functional Engagement Working Group to drive engagement activity and ensure that all new initiatives are inclusive and impactful. We use these data points from our employees together with best practice thinking to ensure we remain an employer of choice.

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Our eNPS (employee Net Promoter Score) was 58 this year, up from 42 in 2023. We also retained our Great Place to Work accreditation with an overall score of 82% which is closely aligned with the top ranked company from 2023.

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As part of our investment in the next generation, we hosted 13 females across three groups of our Transition Year program, providing them with the opportunity to experience working in construction.

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For our existing female employees, we focused heavily on facilitating exposure and development opportunities through our Women in Cairn Network. We also continued to invest in female talent through our Graduate, Mentoring and Manager Development programmes, and sponsored a number of female employees to complete a Professional Diploma in Women in Leadership, through UCD.

Priorities for 2025

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Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
‍
Our ambition is to become recognised both internally and externally as a leading driver of ED&I within the construction industry in Ireland. We have now formalised our ED&I strategy and moving into 2025 we will focus on driving collective responsibility for our ambition, continuing to attract and retain diverse talent, and expand our broader industry impact.

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Communication & Recognition

We will enhance our communication channels to keep employees informed and engaged, expanding the Cairn Live platform and establishing regular feedback mechanisms. Additionally, we will focus on fostering a culture of recognition through a structured system for peer-to-peer recognition.

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Manager Competency Framework

In 2025 we will continue to embed our manager competency framework and integrate it across the employee lifecycle, from interview questions for new candidates to assessment criteria for the manager objective in our annual performance cycle.

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We believe that setting clear expectations for what good leadership looks like in Cairn and then continuing to provide managers with the tools to grow and develop is the best way to unlock their potential and increase the impact they have on employee performance.

Download Our People Strategy

Our customer strategy is to build on our current partnerships and explore new opportunities with our customer base. Cairn now has an established track record of meeting, and exceeding, the needs of our broad and diverse customer base.

Progress and Achievements in 2024

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We continue to see exceptionally high levels of demand for our energy-efficient new homes across all buyer profiles. In 2024 we delivered 2,241 units to our private buyers and our partners in local authorities, Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) and the Land Development Agency (LDA)– a 29% increase from 2023.

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As a leader in sustainable construction, we are the first homebuilder to deliver new homes to the Passive House standard at scale in Ireland, having commenced more than 1,750 apartments to the Passive House standard.

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2024 was an exceptional year for Cairn Customer Care, with a number of processes, procedures and initiatives implemented allowing for a more targeted and effective approach to our customer journey across all tenure types, resulting in an overall Cairn Customer Experience rating of 96%.

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Maintained our market leading levels of customer care, finishing, landscaping and commitment to community care which have become synonymous with Cairn.

Priorities for 2025

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Launching a customer portal for our business customers and our partners in local authorities, AHBs and the LDA;

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Upgrading our existing private customer portal, including ongoing video uploads and the launch of detailed product warranties and maintenance schedules.

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Roll out of D365 field service app to key subcontractor partners to facilitate the early intervention and resolution of any quality issues.

Download Our Customers Strategy

2024 was a transformational year for Cairn in which we grew our housing delivery by nearly 30%, and commenced over 4,100 new homes.

Progress and Achievements in 2024

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In 2024 we commenced over 4,100 new homes across 21 sites, a 90% increase from 2023.

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In 2024 we invested €476.6 million in construction work-in-progress (WIP). This is an 8.3% increase from 2023 and will again significantly increase in 2025.

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Established the Cairn Innovation Test Centre at our Seven Mills development. This centralises innovation tests and acts as a research and development (R&D) centre where employees, subcontractors and suppliers collaborate on innovation projects.

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Launched the Cairn Drone Deploy Platform which provides detailed 3D mapping of all of our projects. This platform has significantly improved how we manage soil movements, groundworks and record site progress;

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Launched the Cairn Technical Design Library to the wider business through a series of functional presentations and training.

Priorities for 2025

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Building on the back-to-basics focus around our Health & Safety performance that has improved our already strong record in recent years.

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Continuing to support our supply chain partners, through initiatives including our Apprenticeship Programme and the Supply Chain Sustainability School, as they scale and develop with us.

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Ensuring we leverage our operating scale and competitive advantages into the medium term to deliver value for money, energy efficient, high-quality new homes.

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Further integrating our sustainability agenda, which is a central tenet of our ambitious growth strategy, into our scaled operating platform.

Download Our Construction Strategy

We believe that building homes is not just about buildings, but about fostering environments where people can thrive and feel a sense of belonging. Our vision is to create communities of connection and belonging, building towards an Ireland where everyone can prosper.

Progress and Achievements in 2024

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We launched the Seven Mills Community Fund in November 2024. We committed €30,000 to support local organisations across Dublin 22 by funding seven community projects. This fund is designed to support clubs, community groups, and societies that are already making a real difference.

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Our partnership with the Community Games throughout 2024 reflects our core values of equality, inclusion, and local impact.

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Our Home Together programme, run in collaboration with Neighbourhood Network, is an ongoing and expanding programme that focuses on developing community initiatives that are sustainable in the long term.

Priorities for 2025

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We will continue our partnership with the Cairn Community Games as we look to expand the reach and impact to more communities across Ireland. Our aim is to increase participation in the Cairn Community Games by 10% (from a 2023 baseline) over the next three years, with a targeted 5% increase in non-sporting events.

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Our Home Together initiative will remain central to building cohesive communities across our developments with the introduction of Home Together across three new developments.

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We will integrate and streamline our placemaking efforts to create a more holistic approach and to deliver more tangible results for the communites we create and support.

Download Our Sustainable communities Strategy

Sustainability

Our Strategy in Action

Our Sustainability Ambition

Our purpose is to build sustainable communities where people can thrive.

At Cairn, we are working to develop a new, more sustainable way to deliver housing in Ireland. We are aware of the potential impacts we can have on the environment through our construction activity and are striving to reduce any negative impact.

Our social impacts are centred on the people we employ both directly and indirectly, the customers we build homes and create places for, and the communities we impact through our construction activities across our value chain.

Through our commitment to building sustainable communities we hope to minimise any negative impacts and achieve our vision for a more sustainable built environment in Ireland.

Download Sustainability Statements

We have immediately initiated design changes to reduce the Operational (‘In-use’) Carbon of several projects by adopting the Passive House standard for a number of flagship developments.

Developed in Germany in the 1990s, the Passive House building standard is designed to minimise the need for space heating and cooling – reducing both carbon emissions and utility bills – while ensuring high levels of comfort and indoor air quality. By adopting this approach, we seek to demonstrate the significant benefits that can be secured by scale housebuilders. We will use our leading position in the Irish construction industry to show that this world class building standard is achievable using existing supply chains and can become the norm, accelerating decarbonisation across our sector.

Passive House delivers outstanding levels of energy efficiency, typically requiring half the heating energy of a building regulations-compliant, new-build home. Applying this rigorous standard to our flagship developments will reduce Cairn’s Scope 3 emissions by an estimated 27,000 tonnes of carbon compared with standard building regulations, equivalent to 13% of our entire 2019 baseline footprint. As well as reducing carbon emissions, reducing energy consumption by adopting these measures results in reduced demand on our energy infrastructure. This reduced energy demand supports the resilience of the national grid, which is likely to come under increasing pressure as heating, transport and other sectors decarbonise and drive demand for renewable energy.

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As an established standard, Passive House allows benefits to be secured in the short term, contributing to the achievement of national net zero goals. In the longer term, the ‘fabric first’ approach that reduces reliance on technologies that may become obsolete, also helps to ‘future-proof’ buildings. Our Passive House Position Paper outlines our commitment to building energy-efficient homes that significantly reduce environmental impact while enhancing comfort and cost savings for residents.

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Our commitment to creating sustainable communities is at the heart of everything we do.

We believe that building homes is not just about buildings, but about fostering environments where people can thrive and feel a sense of belonging. This is achieved through thoughtful planning, considered public realm and shared spaces and amenities and a holistic approach to placemaking.

Download our 2023 Sustainability Report

Our vision is to create new communities of connection and belonging, building towards an Ireland where everyone can prosper. This is embodied in our most recently launched initiative, the Seven Mills Community Fund. We have committed up to €30,000 to support organisations which are local to our Seven Mills development in Dublin 22. This fund is designed to support pre-existing clubs, community groups, and societies that are already making a difference in their communities. By offering seven rewards to support seven inspiring local projects, we aim to make a positive impact in the existing community in which we are building.

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Our partnership with the Cairn Community Games is a testament to our commitment to creating communities where people can thrive. The Community Games have been a cornerstone of Irish communities for decades, involving over 160,000 children annually in 430 towns across the country. This initiative not only promotes active, healthy lifestyles but also ensures that every young person, regardless of their background or ability, can participate and excel.

Our investment of €3 million over four years aims to increase participation by 10% by 2027 and grow non-sports categories such as arts, culture, and music by 5%. The “We’re All In” campaign is at the heart of this effort, focusing on inclusivity and broadening the range of activities available to participants. The positive outcomes from the first year of our partnership are already evident. We have seen a 2.2% increase in overall participation and a 3% increase in non-sports categories. Additionally, our involvement has significantly improved trust and favourability metrics by 20%, and increased brand awareness and consideration. These results underscore the tangible benefits of our collaboration with the Community Games, not just for the participants but for the broader community as well.

Download our 2023 Sustainability Report

The Cairn Community Games allows us to maintain and communicate a positive and inclusive company culture. This partnership is more than just a sponsorship; it reflects our dedication to building communities where everyone can thrive.

Download Case Study

passive house features

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Thermal insulation +

Passive House windows +

Ventilation heat recovery +

Airtightness of the building +

Absence of thermal bridges +

Download our Passive House Report

passive house features

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Downloads

Download Full Report Download Sustainability Statements

Cairn is a home and community builder, leading the market in creating sustainable foundations upon which Ireland can thrive.

2024 Financial Highlights

2024 Operational Highlights

2024 KPIs / Performance Metrics

At Cairn, it’s not about what we build, it’s about why we build...

We build communities

We build partnerships

We build foundations for future generations

We build a sustainable future

Strategically located and low cost landbank

Adding value at every step

Land acquisition

Land acquisition

Construction

Item 4

Item 5

Item 6

Item 7

Item 8

Land acquisition

Land acquisition

Construction

Item 4

Item 5

Item 6

Item 7

Item 8

Adding value at every step

Land Acquisition

Planning

Pre-Construction

Construction

Sales and Customer Care

Creating long-term sustainable value for our stakeholders

Our Sustainability Ambition

We build a
sustainable future