Bellway highlights strong demand for homes as sales rise

Bellway has posted a rise in revenue and a robust forward order book, underlining “strong underlying demand” for new homes. Revenue rose by 11.6% to £1.7bn in the six months ending January. Sales volumes were up by 6.3% to a record 5,656 homes, while its average selling price rose by 5.8% to £303,206. Its forward order book at 14 March was 8.4% ahead at £1.6bn, comprising 6,028 homes. The housebuilder said it expected sales of around 10,000 homes for the full year. Private reservation rates grew by 3.3% to 156 per week, up from 151 in the previous year. Pretax profit fell by 4% to £280.2m. However, EPRA net asset value per share grew by 3.9% to 2,564p. During the period, Bellway set aside £20.3m to undertake cladding and fire safety repairs. This brought its total allocation for fire safety to £131.6m since 2017.   To send feedback, e-mail pui-guan.man@egi.co.uk or tweet @PuiGuanM or @estatesgazette