MJ Gleeson hikes dividend 45% as profit surges

Housebuilder MJ Gleeson hiked its full-year dividend by 45% as profit and revenue in the year to the end of June grew.

Pre-tax profit surged 63% from 2015 to £28.2m on revenue of £142.1m, up 21%.

Basic earnings per share rose to 42.6p from 22.8p and the return on capital employed increased 10% to 23.2%.

The company proposed a final dividend of 10p per share, up from 7.3p, resulting in a total dividend of 14.5p, up 45% from the year before.

Chairman Dermot Gleeson said: “Our twin track strategy - the development of low cost homes for open market sale in the North of England and strategic land sales in the South - goes from strength to strength, delivering increased margins, profits and cash.

"The board has every confidence in the group's outlook in both the short and longer term."

Unit sales at Gleeson Homes increased to 904 units in the period from 751 units the year before and the land pipeline rose to 9,284 plots from 7,496.

The division’s operating profit jumped to £19.5m from £17.4m and the average selling price came in at £125,700 from £123,750.

In the other division, Gleeson Strategic Land, operating profit pushed up to £10.2m from £8.1m driven by an increase in transactions and the unit completed seven land sales for 191 acres of residential and commercially developed land.

At 1120 BST, the shares were up 2.9% to 602p.