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Housebuilder Bellway PLC on Tuesday reported record half-year revenue and said it has seen a ‘moderate, yet sustained improvement’ in reservations since the start of January. The FTSE 250 listing also maintained its dividend and announced a £100 million share buyback. Bellway shares traded 0.8% lower at 2,024.51 pence each in London on Tuesday morning. Revenue in the half-year ended January 31 rose 1.6% to £1.81 billion from £1.78 billion a year earlier. It was record half-year revenue, Bellway said. Pretax profit, however, fell 0.6% to £305.9 million from £307.6 million. ‘Bellway has delivered another strong performance, notwithstanding the challenging operating and trading conditions in the period. We have been encouraged by the moderate, yet sustained improvement in reservations since the start of January 2023, and the group remains on track to deliver volume output of around 11,000 homes in the full financial year,’ Chief Executive Jason Honeyman said. Output of 11,000 homes would be a touch below the 11,198 homes achieved in financial 2022. Volumes in the first half was largely unchanged at 5,695 homes, from 5,694 a year earlier. The average selling price increased 1.6% to £316,929. Bellway’s interim dividend was unchanged at 45.0p. It expects a yearly payout in line with the 140.0p in financial 2022. In addition, it announced a £100 million share buyback which begins on Tuesday with an initial £50 million tranche. Looking ahead, Bellway expects the average selling price for the full year to fade to around £300,000 from £314,399 the year prior, ‘primarily reflecting a higher proportion of social housing in the second half of the financial year’. ‘For the full year, a lower number of completions, together with the effects of build cost inflation and the continued use of targeted sales incentives, will lead to a further modest reduction in the underlying operating margin from the level achieved in the first half,’ Bellway said. Bellway’s underlying operating margin in the first half weakened to 17.6% from 18.7%. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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