Belvoir Group PLC said Monday that its first-half pretax profit and revenue increased significantly, and raised its dividend.
The property company made a pretax profit of 4.8 million pounds ($6.7 million) in the first half, compared with GBP3.2 million in the year-earlier period. The company said it achieved substantial organic growth across its property and financial services divisions, with the rise in profit predominately from its underlying business and bolstered by the newly acquired Nicholas Humphreys network.
Revenue rose 41% to GBP13.8 million. The company said its current pipeline of house sales and continued demand for property suggests that the transitional phasing out of the stamp-duty holiday–which ends on Sept. 30–has succeeded in avoiding the cliff-edge feared at the beginning of the year, and it expects a more gradual return to normal transaction levels in the fourth quarter.
The board declared an interim dividend on 4.0 pence a share, up from 3.4 pence a year prior.
The company said that given its first half profit, further investment in its earnings enhancing businesses and high activity levels at the start of the second half, it is confident in expecting a strong trading performance for the full year.