(Reuters) -Britain’s Bellway expects to build more homes in its new financial year after higher completions and average selling prices helped to boost profit margins in the year ended July 31, the housebuilder said on Tuesday.
The company’s upbeat tone about Britain’s housing market, which has been bogged down by elevated interest rates, sticky inflation and planning delays, sent its London-listed shares and those of its peers higher in early trade.
Rivals Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Redrow and Berkeley have sounded more downbeat in recent months.
“We have entered the new financial year with a healthy forward order book and outlet opening programme and, if market conditions remain stable, we are well-positioned to deliver further growth in FY26,” Bellway CEO Jason Honeyman said in a trading update.
The company, which builds everything from social housing and one-bedroom apartments to six-bedroom family homes and luxury penthouses, said it completed 8,749 homes in the year ended July 31, up 14.3% year-on-year. The average selling price was around 316,000 pounds ($425,304), slightly ahead of its expectations.
It expects to build around 9,200 homes in the year ending July 2026 and increase cash generation for shareholder returns.
At 0730 GMT, Bellway’s shares were up 1.9% at 2,484 pence, in a UK housing index up 1.4%.
“In our view the market will improve in the coming year, suggesting there are upside risks to company guidance” RBC Capital Markets analysts said in a note.
UK home sales surged in early 2025 as first-time buyers rushed to complete purchases ahead of the March 31 expiry of temporary stamp duty relief.
Bellway, which will publish full fiscal 2025 results on October 14, said its underlying operating margin was expected to approach 11%, compared with 10% the year before.
Its forward order book stood at 5,307 homes on July 31, up from 5,144 a year earlier.
($1 = 0.7430 pounds)
(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru. Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Mark Potter)
