Galliford Try lifts full year profit and dividend

17th Sep 2013 07:07

Housebuilding and construction firm Galliford Try booked a 17 per cent increase in annual pre-tax profit as it continued to expand business in the South and South East of England.Pre-tax profit grew to £74.1m for the year ended June 30th from £63.1m in 2012, boosted by strengthening market demand which was helped by the government's Help to Buy scheme.Revenue slipped 2% to £1.5m during the year after a small reduction in the number of completions. Galliford also reported record earnings per share, up 18% to 71.7p.Chief Executive Greg Fitzgerald said: "Housebuilding has delivered another very strong year of trading. This has been achieved in a disciplined manner following a doubling in size of the business in the preceding three years." "Our deliberate investment in high return land opportunities, particularly in the South and South East, together with a greater focus on margin performance and efficiency gains and an improving market means we are well placed to deliver further good growth."The order book was maintained at £1.7bn from £1.65bn in 2012, with the pipeline of opportunities increasing, the group said.Fitzgerald added: "Construction has achieved another impressive performance against the background of a market that remains challenging. There are encouraging signs of an improving market on which we are well positioned to capitalise."Underlining its confidence in future trading, the board recommended a 23% increase in its full year dividend to 37p per share. Galliford had net debt of £14.4m at June 30th 2013 compared to net cash of £22.5m the year earlier. CJ