Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Glenveagh Properties PLC said Friday its interim loss narrowed amid a sharp rise in revenue through a significant rise in residential property sales.
In a separate announcement, the Irish housebuilder said it has promoted Chief Operating Officer Stephen Garvey as chief executive with immediate effect.
He will be succeeded Justin Bickle, who is stepping down after two years in the role since 2017 to move back to the UK from Dublin.
Garvey co-founded Glenveagh Properties alongside Bickle, and has been its COO for two years since 2017. Prior to this, he was chief executive of housebuilder Bridgedale Homes Ltd.
In addition, Glenveagh has appointed Pat McCann and Cara Ryan as non-executive directors. McCann is currently chief executive at Dalata Hotels Group PLC, and Ryan's most recent executive role was as finance director for Manor Park Homebuilders from 2008 to 2012.
"Stephen will be an excellent CEO given his sector experience, operational expertise and deep understanding of our business. We are fortunate to have someone of his calibre ready to lead the business forward in the coming years. I am also delighted to welcome Pat and Cara to Glenveagh," said Chair John Mulcahy.
On the earnings front, Glenveagh's pretax loss narrowed the six months to the end of June, to EUR3.7 million from EUR8.2 million the year before, on revenue that grew sharply to EUR45.5 million from EUR1.3 million.
The strong revenue growth was due to the sale of 158 units in the period compared to six the prior year, at a higher average selling price of EUR287,000 from EUR199,000.
This contributed to revenue EUR45.3 million in residential property sales.
"Positive momentum has been maintained during the first six months of the current financial year, customer demand has been solid and costs were also well managed. Notably, the starter home market remained strong during the period and we saw no evidence of change to first-time buyer behaviour," Mulcahy said.
"We have made good progress in the current period and we are pleased with the levels of output and the investments we are making which will further enhance our position in the market," he added.
Shares in Glenveagh Properties were down 0.3% at EUR0.66 on Friday in London.
