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By Costas Pitas
LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Taylor Wimpey, Britain'ssecond-biggest housebuilder by volume, raised its profit marginforecast for this year due to higher prices and increasingsales, the latest builder to post upbeat results despite acooling market.
The firm said on Tuesday its operating profit margin wouldrise around 400 basis points from last year's 13.6 percent, upfrom its previous forecast for a 300 basis point increase.
Analysts expect its operating profit to rise by almost 50percent to around 462 million pounds ($735 million), accordingto a Thomson Reuters poll.
The builder saw sales for the year to date rise to 0.66 peroutlet per week, marginally up on the same period last year.
Analysts at Liberum, which gave the firm a buy rating, saidfactors including its plot purchasing and ability to keepexpenses down had boosted its performance.
"The increased margin guidance is the result of good pricingand cost discipline, especially in land buying," Liberumanalysts said.
Shares in the firm were up 3.3 percent to 121 pence at 1027GMT.
Chief Executive Pete Redfern told Reuters the firm expectedto see volumes rise over the coming years, with up to 12,500homes built in 2014, up from 11,696 in 2013.
He indicated, however, that recent house price rises of 10percent were unsustainable, with sales in the second half of theyear so far lower than the same period last year, which recordedbumper figures due to the effect of a government mortgageguarantee scheme.
"If that had carried on for two or three years then thatwould create a risk. As a single year, and then settling into amore normal growth pattern in line with normal inflation, it isa lot more sustainable," Redfern said.
Several studies have shown price levels cooling in Britainwith annual house price inflation peaking in June at 10.2percent, according to figures from mortgage lender, Halifax butnow standing at 8.8 percent.
(1 US dollar = 0.6311 British pound) (Editing by Neil Maidment and Mark Potter)
