Bellway announces £100m share buyback

Bellway has launched a £100m share buyback, in a sign of the housebuilder’s confidence after the downturn in the market. In a trading update alongside its half-year results yesterday, chief executive Jason Honeyman said Bellway had been encouraged by the “moderate yet sustained improvement” in reservations since the start of January. Bellway was on track to complete about 11,000 homes in the year to the end of July, down 1.8% year-on-year. A higher proportion of social housing sales means its average sale price for the full financial year is expected to be about £300,000, compared with £314,399 last year. Since its trading update in February, revenue has risen by 1.6% to £1.8bn. Its underlying operating margin fell to 17.6% from 18.7% and profit before tax declined by 0.6% to £305.9m. The Times (£)