Member Article

Bellway sees strong market ahead

Newcastle-based housebuilder Bellway posted a 26% jump in first-half profit and said it was well positioned to increase returns as the traditional spring market strengthens.

Bellway, the UK’s fifth largest housebuilder by market value, on reported a pretax profit of £24m for the six months to the end of January, up from £19m in the same period last year.

Bellway said it completed the sale of 2,332 homes during the period, an increase of almost 4%, and upped its interim dividend by 12.1% to 3.7 pence from 3.3 pence in 2010.

Bellway’s chairman Howard Dawe said: “Visitors and reservations have returned to the pattern of a traditional spring market” but “consumer confidence remains fragile.”

He added that Bellway was “well positioned to deliver increasing returns,” through a combination of rising volumes, growing average sales prices and improving margins.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .