11th Jun 2019 09:14
LONDON (Alliance News) - Bellway PLC on Tuesday said it intends to invest in expansion and deliver further earnings growth in its current financial year, which will end in July.
The UK residential property developer reported strong sales demand in the five months to June 2, with a 4.7% increase in the weekly reservation rate to 244 per week compared to 233 per week last year.
Customer confidence has remained resilient, Bellway said, and despite the ongoing political uncertainty, the cancellation rate since August 2018 has moderated to 12%, a reduction from the 13% reported in March 2018.
The company said its land teams continued to identify "good" opportunities in the marketplace,
focusing on financially attractive sites. Bellways has contracted to acquire 10,620 plots since August 2018 at an anticipated gross margin of around 24%, it said. In addition, there
are heads of terms agreed and solicitors instructed, to purchase a further 7,500 plots.
Looking ahead, Bellway said its forward order book has risen by 2.7% to 6,312 homes, compared to 6,144 homes as at June 3 last year, with 68% of these plots contracted. The value of the order book is modestly lower, however, at GBP1.64 billion versus GBP1.70 billion the year before, due to "planned growth in lower-value social completions", it said.
"This has been another successful trading period for the group, during which we have made further disciplined investment in order to grow the number of sales outlets and build upon last year's strong trading performance," said Chief Executive Jason Honeyman.
"Going forward, we are on track to deliver further earnings growth this financial year and beyond that, our strong balance sheet ensures that Bellway is in a good position to continue its long
term growth strategy," added Honeyman.
Bellway shares were trading flat on Tuesday morning at 2,825.00 pence each.
Related Shares:
Bellway