Sheffield-based builder and developer Henry Boot said it is making progress on key transactions in land promotion and development and expects its annual results to be heavily weighted to the second half of the year.

Speaking ahead of the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday, chief executive Tim Roberts said: “We have begun the year well, trading in line with market expectations and continuing to crystalise profits from both land sales and delivering prime development and premium homes.”

“We have started to see signs that the economy has turned a corner, with inflation falling and interest rates likely to fall, which has improved sentiment in our three key markets,” said Roberts. “Whilst we expect our performance to be heavily weighted to H2 24, as flagged at our results in March, our focus on high quality land and development in prime locations, along with a renewed banking facility, leaves the Group in a position to deliver full year performance as expected.”

The company said it was “in a strong position to deliver a full year performance in line with market expectations” and to hit its medium-term strategic objectives.

Meanwhile, the company’s property investment and development arm HBD said it has agreed to sell a two-acre development site at The Chocolate Works in York to McCarthy Stone, the UK’s leading developer and manager of retirement communities.

HBD and McCarthy Stone entered a partnership in 2019 and got the go-ahead in March for a 72-home retirement community. HBD will now work with McCarthy Stone to finish preparing the site for development, which is expected to complete in the fourth quarter.

The retirement community is the final phase of HBD’s 27-acre development, which included the transformation of the former 160,000 sq ft Terry’s Chocolate factory into 163 premium apartments.