Bovis boosted as housing is on the mend

BoVIS Homes yesterday provided further evidence that the housing market is on the mend as it revealed sales have gone through the roof.

The builder – which like rivals has benefited from improved mortgage lending driven in part by the Government’s Help to Buy scheme – said it has already sold 90pc of homes planned for 2013.

Chief executive David ritchie said it was the first time since the company floated on the stock market in 1997 that it was so close to target just 32 weeks into the year.

‘We have seen some pretty positive trading throughout the first half of the year and we have carried that through the summer,’ he said.

The company sold 963 homes in the first six months of the year, up from 944 in the same period of 2012, and the average selling price jumped 15pc to £188,500 as it focused on larger homes in the South of England. It pushed revenues up 17pc to £183.2m and profits up 19pc to £18.6m.

The company raised its interim dividend from 3p a share to 4p a share but the stock fell 13.5p to 765p having risen by around a third this year.

ritchie said profits for 2013 as a whole would be ‘ significantly’ higher than last year as it benefits from increased mortgage lending and improved confidence among buyers.

He said the market has been boosted by the Help to Buy scheme launched by George osborne in April which offers house-hunters with small deposits state-backed loans.

ritchie played down fears the initiative will inflate a new housing bubble and said firms such as Bovis will build more homes as a result of rising demand.