Bellway is confident it can build on its success in future
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Rising prices and increased sales have helped housebuilder Bellway Homes post a 6.2% rise in full year profits.
The group said pre-tax profit for the year to July 31 rose to £218.2m ($384.5m) from £205.5m a year earlier, in line with analyst expectations.
Bellway said it sold 7,001 homes over the year, compared to 6,610 last year, at an average price of £163,800.
Chairman Howard Dawe said the group was pleased with its performance "despite testing market conditions".
Mr Dawe added that turnover had risen 7.8% to a new record of £1.178bn.
He said the firm would be increasing its dividend by 25% to 31.25p.
Over the year to July, the firm also managed to boost the size of its land bank, which increased by a further 1,800 plots to 22,500.
Bellway builds the majority of its homes on "brownfield" or redeveloped sites, rather than "greenfield" sites that were once agricultural land, and specialises in low-cost affordable homes.
However, by the end of July, the builder's order book was worth just £513m compared to £587m at the same time last year, reflecting the recent slowdown in the property market.
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