Springfield Properties' 'strong' first-half performance continues into H2

Scottish housebuilder Springfield Properties said on Tuesday that strong growth across its private and affordable housing divisions in the first half of its trading year carried over into the second.

Springfield said it had seen an increase in completions during the year ended 31 May as a result of a strong Scottish housing market across the private and affordable housing sectors. In addition, management's target of improving gross margins had been successfully achieved through strong sales rates and sustained prices combined with tight cost control.

The AIM-listed group's village developments also "progressed well", with their appeal strengthening as they become increasingly established.

Springfield said recently-acquired Dawn Homes continued to perform strongly and trade in line with expectations.

Looking ahead to its full-year results, Springfield said: "With the sustained increase in completions and revenue in the private housing and affordable housing divisions, and with Walker Group and Dawn Homes continuing to perform as expected, the group expects to report results for the full year 2018/19 in line with market expectations, representing significant growth over the previous year with improved gross margins."

As of 1000 BST, Springfield shares had picked up 4.15% to 113p.