BELLWAY has hailed a strong performance by its business in Scotland, where significant investment in land led to 327 homes being sold in six months to January 31.
The company's activities in Scotland fed into a strong showing by the housebuilder across its seven northern divisions. Bellway built 1,822 homes in the north of the UK over the period - an increase of 23.6 per cent on the same period last year - it said in a trading update yesterday.
The company, due to report its interim results on March 25, reported an overall 15.7 per cent increase in the number of house completions to 3,754. This came as it invested £355 million on land and land creditors, compared with £240m in the year prior.
Bellway, which expects to open a sixteenth operating division in its current financial year, highlighted a near 25 per cent increase in the value of its forward order book to £975 million, and declared it expects its operating margin to approach 20 per cent in the period ended January 31.
The update came amid what the FTSE 250 listed company said were favourable market conditions, with continued demand for new homes across the country.
It reported it had taken an average of 139 reservations per week over the period, narrowly up on the 137 taken the year before, and said the rate of private reservations had slowed compared with the first half of its previous financial year. This was expected as the previous period had been boosted by the surge in activity brought by the Help to Buy scheme.
Bellway chief executive Ted Ayres said: "The group's strategy of delivering volume growth, with a strong focus on return on capital employed has resulted in a further significant rise in profitability.
"With advanced plans to open a sixteenth division in the second half of the financial year, Bellway is well positioned to deliver further earnings growth."
Shares in Bellway closed up 41p at 1,870p.
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