The UK’s fourth-largest housebuilder Bellway has reported “an exceptional year of progress,” chairman John Watson said.
Home sales rose 21.2% in the year to July 1 to 6,851, producing turnover of £1.486 million, a rise of nearly 34% on the 2013 figure.
Gross profit rose 55.6% to £316.4m, and pre-tax profit was £245.9m, an increase of 74.5%.
The increase in earnings enabled the board to propose a final dividend of 36p per share, bringing the total dividend payment for the year to a record 52p.
Bellway has housing projects throughout Britain and its east of Scotland sites include Birchwood in Cowdenbeath, Claremont Park in Alloa, Inches in Perth, Canmore Heights in Dunfermline and Forest Walk in Callander.
The group’s land bank increased 7.4% to 35,434 plots, and with net cash of £5.1m there was operational and balance sheet capacity for future growth.
Mr Watson said there had been a significant improvement in customer confidence during the year which had allowed Bellway to accelerate the construction and delivery of new homes.
He added: “The outlook remains positive with a record forward order book, and this should enable the group to deliver volume growth of around 10% in the current financial year.”
CEO Tim Ayres said the group’s strong balance sheet and widespread national presence allowed Bellway to invest in a wide range of locations and a variety of land opportunities.
The continued good availability of high quality land with a more positive planning environment provided the group with attractive opportunities for investment, while the extension in England of the UK Government’s Help to Buy scheme was also assisting the firm.
“The Mortgage Market Review and the measures recently introduced by the Bank of England to control the supply of higher loan-to-income mortgages should help to ensure a long-term, sustainable supply of mortgage finance in the future,” he said.