Bellway restarts dividends as it heads for record year

Bellway has started paying dividends to shareholders again as the UK housebuilder heads for a record year on the back of government support for the housing market. 

The FTSE 250 group posted record revenues of £1.7bn for the six months to January 31, up 11 per cent compared with the same period last year.

UK property sales have surged in recent months, buoyed by a stamp duty holiday announced by ministers in July. Bellway anticipates that will continue, supported by the extension of the tax break until September, low interest rates and the government’s introduction this month of a mortgage guarantee scheme. 

Bellway expects to sell 10,000 homes in the year to July 31, which is 25 per cent more than it managed over the previous 12 months. 

As a result of the fast rebound in sales, Bellway said it would restart dividend payments at 35p a share. 

Pre-tax profits fell 4 per cent in the six months to the end of January to £280m, from £292m a year earlier, as the builder’s margins fell.

Bellway said it had set aside an extra £20m to fund fire safety work on its developments, adding to previous fire safety provisions of more £111m. 

Like other housebuilders, Bellway has made extra funding available as the scale of the fire safety crisis, which was triggered by the 2017 blaze at Grenfell tower in London, has become clearer over the past year.