Bellway ups dividend after beating housebuilder woes
11 April 2012
Housebuilder Bellway hits a first-half pre-tax profit and said it will raise its dividend.
The firm, Britain's fifth largest housebuilder by market value, made £19 million in the six months to the end of January, compared with a loss of £48.6 million in the period last year.
Bellway, which analysts say is among the few housebuilders to be trading profitably, raised its interim dividend to 3.3p from 3p year ago. It said it spent £76 million on land and land creditors in the period.
The Newcastle firm said in a trading update last month that it sold 2,247 units in its first half of the financial year, with an average selling price of £156,000.
