Bovis Homes is back in the black for the six months ending 30 June 2010, posting a pre-tax profit of £3.5m.
A year ago, the house builder reported a £8.6m loss.
Revenue was down fractionally at £115.6m (H1 2009: £122.6m).
The firm's net cash position is weaker at £79.3, compared to £112m at the last year end. However, this is chiefly due to its policy of buying up land “at a low point in the housing market cycle”.
Bovis Homes added 1,874 consented plots to its land bank in the first half of 2010, which it said have “an estimated future revenue at current sales prices of £373m and a potential gross profit of £94m”.
This has increased the house builder's consented land bank to 13,113 plots at 30 June 2010 (31 December 2009: 12,042 consented plots).
Summarising the outlook, Bovis Homes said: “The new homes market remained subdued with restricted levels of mortgage availability, particularly in the first time buyer market, limiting the number of transactions and constraining sales price improvements.
“In the last few weeks of the half year, after the General Election and the Budget, the market became more fragile. The group, therefore, remains cautious in its expectations of transaction volumes and sales prices in the short term given the low levels of consumer confidence at this time and the ongoing challenges in the mortgage market.”
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