Half-year revenues of £950m were about the same as for the same period of 2011, but operating profits is expected to be up more than 30% to £80m and pre-tax profit more than doubled to about £45m when the numbers are officially published next month.
In a trading update, group chief executive Mark Clare said: “This has been a good first half performance. Pre-tax profit has more than doubled, net debt was significantly lower than the prior year, and we have started the second half with a strong private forward order book up by over 35%. In addition, we have been investing for the future, successfully securing higher margin land both in the southeast and across the rest of the country that will drive further profit growth.”
The company said that the availability of mortgage finance remained the key constraint to industry growth, but it has started to see some improvements coming through. “Expectations are that mortgage lending should increase in 2013, supported by the Bank of England’s Funding for Lending Scheme,” it said.
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