SPRINGFIELD Properties has said it expects revenue and profits in its debut year as a quoted company to beat City expectations by five to ten per cent.

Shares in the housebuilder climbed 5.4 per cent as it revealed 10.5 per cent sales growth in the six months to November 30, to £54.7 million, and said that because of the progress made in the first half of the year, revenue for the second half would be “significantly greater” than the same period in 2017.

Pre-tax profits were up 19.6 per cent to £3.1m, after £300,000 relating to the cost of October’s flotation was taken out.

Springfield said it has significant contracted revenue for the second half of the year and strong ongoing sales, which led it to believe it would beat full-year forecasts.

In a robust period for the Elgin-based group, progress was made in all five of the village concepts which are core to Springfield’s growth strategy.

This helped sales increase across private and affordable housing as completions grew by six per cent to 280 new homes, with an average selling price of £234,000, up 13 per cent.

Planning consent was secured on 816 private plots and 518 affordable plots.

Springfield grew active sites to 29 from 25 as eight new sites were added to the pipeline during the period while four sites were completed.

Following the initial public offering (IPO), the company has increased focused on developing larger, standalone Village sites each with 800-3,000 plots and that include local amenities

Of the five villages, Innes Smith, chief executive of the group, reported strong sales in Dundee, with 78 houses handed over in the period. At the Perth village, which will see 3,000 homes built, there have been 18 reservations. The first cornerstone was laid last week with the first handovers expected in July. The first handovers at Edinburgh are expected next month, while in Elgin planning permission has been granted, and in Stirling, a planning application was submitted in December and Mr Smith said he was hopeful it would be granted by June.

Sandy Adam, executive chairman of Springfield Properties said the group was content with timescales for planning approval in Scotland, noting that it was “best to work with planning officers, and take them on the journey”.

Affordable housing saw 40 per cent growth to £11.7m in the period on 96 completions and Mr Smith said he expects that to double in the second half.

“We have absolutely targeted sites that are suitable for affordable [housing] in the last two years,” he said. “Sandy and the land team have acquired 3,710 plot available for affordable housing. It’s a good thing to provide affordable housing, we need to be socially inclusive. We’re delivering turnkey solutions on land that might not otherwise be developed.”

Springfield is currently working on affordable housing proposals worth a total of £70m to £80m for delivery over the next three years.

With the Scottish Government’s Help to Buy initiative set to expire at the end of March 2019, no further plans have yet been announced. Mr Smith said that with 17 per cent of sales through Help to Buy at Springfield the group was not reliant on the initiative, but noted: “What it needs is some certainty. Uncertainty is not a good thing so what we need is a decision either way, and we’ll adapt accordingly. I can’t imagine it will go with nothing in its place.”

A maiden interim dividend of 1p will be paid, with Mr Smith saying about one-third of profits will be returned to investors.

Mr Adam said: “We have entered the second half of our financial year with a strong order book of contracted revenues and, together with sustained market drivers including a supportive Scottish Government policy, Springfield is poised to play a significant part in the delivery of the many new private and affordable homes needed across Scotland.”