LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Home builder Bellway Plc. (BWY.L) reported Tuesday that its first half profit before tax rose 9.3% to 247.6 million pounds from last year's 226.6 million pounds.
Profit after tax rose by over 10% to 200.7 million pounds, resulting in basic earnings per share of 163.9 pence, higher than 148.7 pence a year ago.
Total revenue has increased almost 6% to 1.15 billion pounds from 1.08 billion pounds last year, principally driven by the strong growth in volume.
The Group completed the sale of 4,462 new homes , up 7 percent from the prior year.
Net asset value per share grew 16.6 percent to 1,612 pence.
Further, the company proposed an interim dividend per share of 37.5 pence, up 10.3 percent from last year.
Looking ahead, for fiscal 2017, the company said the number of homes sold is expected to rise by at least 5%, and the average selling price is expected to rise to around 260,000 pounds from 252,793 pounds last year.
The operating margin for the full financial year is expected to be maintained at around 22%.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX