Flintshire-based house building giant Redrow plc said on Wednesday its first-half revenue soared 20% to £1.04 billion and pre-tax profit rose 11% to £174 million in the six months to December 27, 2020.
Dividends have been reinstated by Redrow, with an interim payment of 6p per share.
Completions in the first half were 20% ahead at 3,065 homes.
Redrow said it entered the second half with a total order book of £1.3 billion and reservations for the ongoing business up 6% at £819 million.
Redrow CEO Matthew Pratt said: “The group delivered a strong first-half performance whilst continuing to operate under strict COVID-secure procedures.
“During a period of intensive activity to rebuild output, it is pleasing to report we have maintained high levels of customer satisfaction and I am grateful to our teams for their ongoing hard work and commitment during these challenging times.
“We have seen a strong sales market during the first half driven by a combination of pent-up demand from the first national lockdown, the introduction of the Stamp Duty holiday and the impending end of the Help to Buy scheme for existing home owners.
“At the end of December 2020, the group had net cash of £238m compared to net debt of £126m at the end of June 2020 as we converted our high level of brought forward work in progress into completions.
“Given the Group’s cash position and order book, the board has resumed dividend payments with an interim dividend of 6p (2020: 0p) …
“Despite a 20% increase in revenue in the first half, we have continued to maintain a very strong order book.
“At the end of the first half, we had a record December total order book of £1.3bn (2020: £1.2bn) of which 72% is contracted.
“We are now over 95% forward sold for the current financial year.
“The acceleration of changing buyer trends, which are completely aligned to Redrow’s strategy, point to a positive outlook for the business.
“Our private forward sold position of £750m beyond the end of both the original Help to Buy scheme and the Stamp Duty holiday, demonstrates the resilience of our target market and the desirability of our product and the places we create.
“These fundamentals mean we can look confidently to the future and fulfilling our ambitions to rebuild and grow the business.”