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Bellway shares rose after the housebuilder announced forecast-matching trading numbers, and launched a £150 million share buyback programme.
At £25.90 per share, the Bellway share price was last 4.5% higher in Tuesday business.
Revenues at the FTSE 250 firm rose 16.9% on the 12 months to July, to £2.8 billion. Completions increased 14.3% to 8,749 units, while average asking prices rose to £316,412 from £307,909 previously.
However, Bellway’s weekly private reservation rate (including bulk sales) slowed during the latter months of the year, it said. For the full 12 month period these were at 0.57 versus 0.51 in financial 2024.
The builder said that “while the private reservation rate improved in the second half of the financial year… a solid period of demand through the spring was followed by softer trading in the final quarter.”
Bellway’s operating profit margin increased by 90 basis points over the year, to 10.9%. This helped push operating profit 27.5% higher to £303.5 million.
Pre-tax profit rose 27.9% on an underlying basis, to £289.1 million.
The company raised the full-year dividend to 70p per share, up from 54p per share previously. It also announced plans to repurchase £150 million of its shares over the next 12 months.
Recent Weakness
Bellway cautioned that the start to financial 2026 has been impacted by “a continuation of weak consumer sentiment which has carried from late spring.”
It said that “customer demand has been affected by ongoing affordability constraints and uncertainties about potential taxation changes in the government’s Budget in November 2025.”
The builder’s net private rate including bulk sales dropped to 0.51 during the 10 weeks from 1 August, it said. This was down from 0.6 in the corresponding 2024 period.
However, Bellway said it expects to increase total completions to 9,200 homes this year, with a higher average asking price of £320,000 per unit.
As of October 5, its forward order book was 5,285 homes with a value of £1.5 billion. That was up from 5,164 homes and £1.4 billion respectively at the same point last year.
“Good Performance”
Chief executive Jason Honeyman said Bellway delivered “a good performance… with double-digit growth in volume output and profits, and our sharper focus on balance sheet efficiency is reflected by the £150 million share buyback programme announced today.”
He noted that “while we face some near-term market challenges, we have a high-quality land bank, strong balance sheet and the operational capacity to capitalise on the positive long-term fundamentals of our industry.”
Honeyman added that the FTSE 250 builder “remains very well-positioned to continue delivering much needed high-quality new homes in the years ahead.”
The UK government has pledged to revamp planning rules to support the building of 1.5 million new homes during the five years to 2029.
Conditions Remain Tough
Analyst Mark Crouch of eToro said that Bellway’s full-year update “reads more like a well-built house in a declining neighbourhood, overshadowed by what’s going on outside.”
He said that while “completions are up, profits are up, the pipeline is packed, and legacy defect costs are being kept on a tight leash,” the housebuilder continues to face pressure “as affordability concerns and fading consumer confidence continue to choke buyer demand.”
Crouch added that “for all its solid foundations, Bellway can’t force the door open, it’ll need the market to step inside first.”
