25th Feb 2020 10:57
(Alliance News) - Springfield Properties PLC on Tuesday lifted its payout after reporting mid-single-digit profit growth in the first half of its current financial year.
The housebuilder said pretax profit for the six months to the end of November was GBP6.3 million, up 3.4% compared to GBP6.1 million a year earlier, as revenue increased by 5.4% to GBP79.9 million from GBP75.7 million.
Springfield said completion of new homes increased by 16% to 438 during the half-year and it has expanded its geographical presence in Inverness, Scotland.
Total administrative expenses for the half-year were GBP9.1 million compared with GBP7.0 million a year ago, due to the larger scale of the business, primarily the addition of Walker Group.
Springfield declared an interim dividend of 1.4 pence a share, having paid a 1.2p per share payout a year earlier.
"We are pleased to have achieved another period of growth resulting from progress across our business and, in particular, delivering strong improvement in gross margin," said Chief Executive Innes Smith.
"Looking ahead, we entered the second half with a strong order book and we are experiencing good growth across the business," continued Smith. "Consequently, we remain confident of achieving growth for the full year in line with management expectations and are pleased to have declared an interim dividend 17% above last year."
AIM-listed Springfield shares were trading 7.5% lower in London on Tuesday at 148.00 pence each.
By Evelina Grecenko; [email protected]
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Springfield Pr.