Gleeson's first half dividend surges

Gleeson, which specialises in urban regeneration and land development, raised its interim dividend by 120 per cent to 1.1p for the first half as revenue and profit surged.Revenue jumped 32% to £34.4m in the six months through December as sales of homes rose 56% to 258 units and the gross margin improved to 25.9% to 24.2%.Operating profit grew 112% to £2.6m and pre-tax profit was up 107% to £2.7m.The company experienced increasing demand for homes in line with the rest of the market. Government schemes such as Help to Buy have helped spur the UK housing sector and boost prices. Gleeson said 44% of completions benefitted from the scheme during the first half. The average selling price for the units sold in the period increased to £120,000 from £115,000 the previous year. In the Strategic Land division, revenue fell to £1.5m from £7m in 2012 following two land sales with a combined acreage of four acres, down from the prior year's three land sales with a combined acreage of 13 acres. The group's net cash balance at the end of the period was £7.7m, reflecting a net cash outflow of £2.3m.Looking ahead, the company expects improvements in the group's trading performance in the current year and beyond. Shares held at 449.75p at 09:59 on Monday.RD MJGleeson