* British company doubles dividend payout
* Profit rises 68 pct, helped by margin improvement
* Shares hit seven-year high (Adds CEO comments, analyst reaction, shares)
By Paul Sandle
LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - British housebuilder TaylorWimpey said it had seen a strong start to the springselling season as it posted a 68 percent rise in 2014 profit andmore than doubled its final dividend.
The company said investments in land over the last fiveyears were enabling it to improve profitability and returns toshareholders as the market recovered.
"The beginning of spring selling season has seen trading atthe better end of expectations," Chief Executive Pete Redfernsaid on Tuesday.
Redfern said Taylor Wimpey had improved its operating marginby 430 basis points to 17.9 percent in 2014. Adjusted pretaxprofit came in at 450.1 million pounds ($691 million), broadlyin line with market expectations.
The group, which completed 12,454 homes across the UK in2014, proposed a final dividend of 1.32 pence per share, up from0.47 pence a year ago, in addition to special payouts includinga 7.68 pence per share payment already announced which will bepaid in July.
Redfern said the group would announce another specialdividend at its half-year results of around the same level asthe July payout.
Shares in Taylor Wimpey touched a seven-year high of 149.9pence on Tuesday, and were trading up 0.9 percent at 146.2 penceby 0951 GMT.
Analysts at Jefferies said the highlight of the results wasthe doubling of the dividend.
"Often a high yield reflects risk, however, in our view thecash generating ability of Taylor Wimpey has never been strongerand it remains wedded to its soft volume cap of 14,000 units,which provided strong dividend visibility in current marketconditions," they said.
Housebuilding has moved up the political agenda in Britainahead of a general election in May, as the supply of new homescontinues to lag demand.
The ruling Conservative Party said on Monday that 200,000homes would be made available to first-time buyers in England by2020 if it won the election, while the opposition Labour Partyalso said housing would be a top priority.
Redfern said Taylor Wimpey would continue to increasevolumes, but that sustainability was the watchword.
"We'd rather deliver a solid sustainable level of growth,"he said. "You get to a better place whether you are looking atfinancial performance or whether you are looking at totalhousing deliveries over time."
($1 = 0.6509 pounds) (Editing by Li-mei Hoang and Pravin Char)
Taylor Wimpey (TW.)
