Bellway hails 'creditable' half year performance despite 4% profit drop

Housebuilder Bellway has reported a fall in pre-tax profits of 3.9% despite a 3.7% rise in turnover for the half year ended 31 January 2008.

Despite the drop, Bellway chairman Howard Dawe said that the company had registered a "creditable performance against a backdrop of an uncertain marketplace".

The number of homes Bellway built in the six months to January was 3,252, a slight reduction on the 3,264 it managed to churn out during the same period in the previous year.

Meanwhile the average price of sales increased slightly from £173,300 to £174,800.

Dawe claimed the company was well-placed to weather continuing tough times in the housing sector. In a statement he said: "Our full national coverage means that Bellway is not over-exposed in any one geographical area and, indeed is presently performing well in Scotland and the souther part of England."

However he indicated that the market in the Midlands, Yorkshire and North West remained "challenging".