Flintshire-based house builder Redrow, which has said it still wants to pursue a deal for Bovis Homes, on Wednesday issued a trading update saying its current performance was “robust” and predicting profit before tax for its current financial year of at least £306 million.

“Further to the announcement on 8 February 2017 of Redrow’s interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2016, Redrow is pleased to announce that its trading and performance continues to be robust, as a consequence of a record order book and a further increase in legal completions, combined with better than anticipated increases in average selling prices,” said the company.

“Given the strong year-to-date performance the board is confident that Redrow is on track to deliver at least £306 million profit before tax for the financial year ending 30 June 2017, an increase of 22% compared to the prior financial year of 2016.”

On February 8 Redrow said its revenue rose 23% to a first half record of £739 million in the six months to December 31 and pre-tax profit soared 35% to a record £140 million.