Chairman Howard Dawe said that "consumer demand for new homes has shown continued resilience and this … has enabled Bellway to deliver its third successive year of growth in volume, average selling price and operating margin".
Growth was driven by the group's performance in the south of the country and was further strengthened by an increase in private completions.
For year to 31 July 2012, the number of homes sold increased 6.2% to 5,226 (2011: 4,922) and the average selling price increased to £186,648 (2011: £175,613).
This pushed total group turnover to £1,004.2m (2011: £886.1m). With an operating margin of 11.4% (2011: 8.5%), pre-tax profit was up 57% to £105.3m (2011: £67.2m)
Mr Dawe added: "Assuming support from government is maintained and consumer demand follows a similar pattern to last year, the board intends to maintain its strategy of growth in volume, average selling price and margin via a combination of changes in mix, together with the ongoing increase in the proportion of completions from newly acquired, higher margin land. This should allow the group to continue to deliver sustainable and responsible growth in net asset value whilst maintaining annual dividend payments to shareholders commensurate with earnings growth.”
The government’s NewBuy sales incentive, introduced in March 2012, which supports buyers who have only a 5% deposit, was used to reserve 133 homes in the period up to 31 July 2012.
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