LONDON (Alliance News) - Countryside Properties PLC on Wednesday expressed confidence for the reminder of the year and lifted its dividend after it saw a double-digit growth in profit in the first half of its current financial year.
The FTSE 250-listed home builder said pretax profit grew to GBP180.7 million in the six months to September 30 compared to GBP148.3 million reported for the same period a year earlier.
Revenue jumped to GBP1.02 billion from GBP845.8 million year-on-year, as its total completions grew by 27% to 4,295 homes.
Average selling price in the first half decreased slightly to GBP402,000 from GBP430,000 the year before, reflecting the geographical mix of sales, the company said, with underlying house price inflation of 2%.
The number of sales outlets increased to 60 during the period from 47. The company said it had 55 sites under construction in the first half, but not yet open for sale.
Countryside Properties' total forward order book, including affordable and private rented sector homes under contract, increased 40% to GBP899.7 million compared to GBP643.7 million the prior year.
The company declared an interim dividend of 8.4 pence a share, up 29% from 10.8p paid a year earlier.
"Despite some of the political and economic uncertainty around Brexit, we have started the new financial year in a strong position," said Chief Executive Ian Sutcliffe.
"Overall, I am confident that we are ideally placed to continue to meet the market's expectations of our future growth," added Sutcliffe.
Countryside Properties shares were trading 1.1% lower on Wednesday at 280.00p each.
