UK housebuilder Galliford Try (LON:GFRD) reported strong growth in annual profit, boosted by a good performance at its Linden Homes business and said it had a strong pipeline of upcoming projects.
The company reported a 28% uplift in pretax profit in the year to the end of June on revenues 11% higher at £3.1bln. The construction and property group, which raised £150mln from a rights issue earlier this year, said it would pay a full year dividend of 77p a share – 10% down on the 86p handout last year.
READ: Galliford Try shares gain as the housebuilder expects a strong performance for the year
The company’s Linden Homes business delivered an 8% increase in operating profit to £184.4mln boosted by the Help to Buy scheme, good mortgage availability and the cut in stamp duty for first-time buyers.
Its construction division slipped to a £29.1mln operating loss during the period due to problems with its Aberdeen bypass project. However, the company said that aside from this project the division had delivered a strong underlying performance.
Galliford's Partnership & Regeneration unit saw profits rise 58% in operating profit to £23.6mln and said the landbank had risen 39% to 3,760 plots.
The company said its order books in Linden Homes and Partnerships & Regeneration rose to £698mln from £638mln a year earlier.
“Linden Homes continued to prioritise margin growth, benefiting from further standardisation and the robust control of overheads,” CEO Peter Truscott said in a statement.
“Volumes also grew reflecting the strength of our product offering, and with the sector supported by Help to Buy, good mortgage availability and the cut in stamp duty for first-time buyers. The land market continues to be favourable, allowing us to buy land at robust margins, in the right locations for our new standardised product,” he added.
Shares in Galliford opened 2.3% up at 1,022.1p.