Bellway PLC on Tuesday said that revenue and home volume reached record levels in financial 2022 and it expects to grow further in the year ahead.

For the financial year that ended on July 31, the Newcastle-based housebuilder said it expected revenue to be more than £3.50 billion, up 13% from £3.12 billion the year before.

The company said a record 11,198 homes were completed during financial 2022, up 11% and 49% respectively from 10,138 homes the year before and 7,522 homes in financial 2019.

Average selling price rose by 2.6% to £314,400, compared to £306,479 in financial 2021. ‘This is higher than previously expected, in part driven by a higher proportion of private completions, which rose to 82% of the total,’ Bellway explained. This is compared to 78% the year before.

The company said it now expects the average selling price to be over £300,000 in the next financial year, and an annual record output of around 12,200 homes, representing volume growth of around 20% over a two-year period.

Chief Executive Jason Honeyman said: ‘Bellway has delivered another strong performance, with volume output and housing revenue reaching record levels for the group. Looking ahead, our sizeable forward order book and continued strong investment in land puts the group in an excellent position to deliver another record year of volume output.’

Bellway said its forward order book has grown further during the period, rising in value by 4.5% to £2.11 billion and comprising 7,223 homes as at July 31. This is compared to £2.02 billion and 7,082 homes the year before.

Bellway said it expects the underlying operating margin for financial 2022 to have increased to around 18.5%, up from 17.0% the year before.

This is ‘driven by improved site operating efficiency and completions from more recently acquired land,’ it noted.

Bellway will release its full annual results on October 18.

Bellway shares were down 1.2% at 2,314.00 pence each on Tuesday morning in London.

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