22nd Mar 2016 07:58
LONDON (Alliance News) - Bellway PLC on Tuesday said its pretax profit surged in the first half of its financial year, after it saw a rise in both the number of houses the company sold and the price at which these houses were sold at, prompting a hike to its dividend payout.
The FTSE 250-listed housebuilder said pretax profit was GBP226.6 million in the six months to January 31, up 43% from GBP158.9 million a year earlier, coming from the 12% increase in homes sold, to 4,188 from 3,754, as well as the 17% boost to average selling price of the properties, at GBP257,280 from GBP219,343.
This, Bellway said, was in part influenced by a positive contribution from high value apartments in London, where the housebuilder sold 786 homes, up from 734 homes, at an average selling price of GBP366,764, from GBP276,896 for the capital.
The profit rise prompted Bellway to lift its interim dividend payout 36% to 27.90 pence per share from 25.00 pence a year earlier.
Bellway said growth in average selling price is expected to be 10% higher at year-end on July 31 than it was at the end of its 2015 financial year, whilst housing completions are also expected to rise by at least 10%.
Bellway said revenue was up 31% at GBP1.08 billion from GBP831.2 million, adding it increased its land bank in the first half to 37,879 from 36,211 at the end of its 2015 financial year in July. Operating margin came in at 21.4% from 19.9%.
Bellway's order book at March 13 was 5,408 homes with a value of GBP1.20 billion, up from the 4,794 homes valued at GBP1.12 billion on March 8, 2015.
"I am pleased to report another record set of results as the group takes advantage of the positive market conditions to deliver further volume growth. The rise in output, together with an additional increase in both average selling price and operating margin, has resulted in significant earnings growth and a further improvement in return on capital employed," said Chairman John Watson.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
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