15th Oct 2019 09:28
(Alliance News) - Bellway PLC on Tuesday raised its annual dividend on increased profit and revenue for the period, on a solid operational performance, but warned on its operating margin in the current year.
Shares in Bellway were down 8.4% at 3,200.00 pence on Tuesday in London.
For the financial year to the end of July, the FTSE 250 housebuilder said pretax profit rose by 3.4% to GBP662.6 million from GBP641.1 million the year before, on revenue that grew by 8.6% to GBP3.21 billion from GBP2.96 billion.
Operationally, Bellway reported a record number of housing completions at 10,892, up 5.7% from 10,307 the year before, with an average selling price of GBP291,968, up 2.5% from GBP284,937.
The group also reported high demand for new housing, with a record reservation rate of 210 per week, up 5.0% from 200 the prior year.
As at July 31, net asset value per share increased by 14% to 2,372 pence from 2,079p on the same date a year before.
Bellway proposed a final dividend of 100.0 pence per share, bringing its total payout to 150.4p, up 5.4% from 143.0p the year before.
Looking ahead, Bellway said it ended the year with a strong forward order book of 4,878 homes with a value of GBP1.22 billion, compared to 4,841 homes at a value of GBP1.30 billion the prior year.
For the first nine weeks of its current financial year, Bellway reported a rise in the reservation rate by 4.0% to 183 per week from 176 in the same period a year before.
Bellway's order book as at September 29 was 5,190 homes with a value of GBP1.31 billion, down from 5,380 homes at a value of GBP1.47 billion at the end of September 2018.
The company noted that the one-off benefit to operating margins from the Nine Elms development in Battersea, south London will not be repeated in the current year.
Combined with the lack of house price inflation and build-cost pressures, the reduction to the underlying operating margin for the current year will be "more pronounced".
"The board is mindful that the uncertainty surrounding 'Brexit' could pose a threat to consumer confidence. Assuming market conditions remain favourable, the strong order book, together with additional, considered investment in land and work in progress, should enable Bellway to deliver further, yet more moderate volume growth in the year ahead," said Chief Executive Jason Honeyman.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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