Telford Homes reports record full-year revenue amid strong demand

London-focused residential property developer Telford Homes has reported record revenue for the year to the end of March 2017 thanks to robust demand.

Revenue rose 19% to £291.9m while pre-tax profit for the year exceeded original market expectations, increasing to £34.1m from £32.2m the year before. The company said it is on track to exceed £4m of pre-tax profit for the year to 31 March 2018 and £50m the year after that.

In addition, it has already secured more than 80% of anticipated gross profit for the year to 31 March 2018 and more than 60% for March 2019.

Telford proposed a final dividend of 8.5p per share, taking the total dividend for the year to 15.7p from 14.2p. The company said that at 1 April, it had already made £546m in forward sales, underpinning growth expectations over the next few years.

Chief executive Jon Di-Stefano said: "I am delighted to report record levels of revenue and profit for the year to 31 March 2017 and an increase in the dividend paid to shareholders. Since the start of 2016 we have swiftly established Telford Homes at the forefront of the London build to rent sector with over £230m of combined contract value secured to date. Build to rent is a strategic focus for the group and we expect to further increase our activity in the coming months."

Telford said its development pipeline of £1.5bn of future revenue represents more than five times the revenue reported in the year to the end of March 2017.

At 0812 BST, the shares were up 1.8% to 438.15p.