Latest news with #Bellway
The Independent
16 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Bellway buys up land but warns over local council planning delays
Housebuilder Bellway has revealed it nearly doubled the amount of land bought for development in a bid to meet Government housing targets, despite warning over local council delays. The FTSE 100-listed company said it contracted to buy 8,120 plots of land during the year to the end of July – about 76% more than the 4,621 bought the prior year. This was across 51 sites – nearly double the 27 bought last year. Bellway, which builds new housing developments across the UK, said the industry stands to benefit from the Government's recent planning reforms. The Labour Government has been pushing to introduce new measures to help meet its pledge to build 1.5 million homes this Parliament. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which is making its way through the House of Lords, includes mandatory housing targets and reforms to planning rules to make it harder to reject developments. However, Bellway said it was continuing to face 'delays to planning decisions as local authorities are taking time to adopt new local plans' and updated national planning frameworks. The housebuilder urged the Government to address affordability and demand issues among first-time buyers to help meet its 'ambitious' housing targets. Nevertheless, Bellway said it sold more homes over the past year with 8,749 sales completed compared with 7,654 the prior year. It is expecting this total to surpass 9,200 homes in the year ahead.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
FTSE 100 rises after US-China trade truce extension; key economic data in focus
(Reuters) -Britain's blue-chip index rose on Tuesday as an extended U.S.-China tariff truce bolstered investor sentiment, while markets also focused on the day's key economic data releases. As of 0947 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE 100 gained 0.3% and the midcap index was little changed. The 90-day extension of the tariff truce between the world's two largest economies provided temporary relief to investors about global trade, effectively postponing potentially damaging triple-digit duties on Chinese exports to the U.S. In UK markets, Spirax surged 13%, leading gains on the blue-chip index, after the manufacturing group forecast organic sales growth accelerating in the second half of the year on a strong order book. Bellway inched 1.4% higher after it expects to build more homes in its new financial year. The outlook lifted the broader UK housing sector index by 0.7%. London-listed Atalaya Mining Copper climbed 7.1% after the miner raised its copper production outlook for the financial year 2025, lifting the broader industrial metal miners index by 0.5%. Economic data on the day revealed Britain's jobs market continues to soften, with payrolls declining for a sixth consecutive month and vacancies decreasing further. However, persistent wage growth underscored the Bank of England's cautious approach toward interest rate cuts. With the central bank's policymakers split over the risks of a hiring slump and a pickup in inflation pressures, the new figures pointed to a continued cooling of the labour market, albeit less sharply than in recent months. Investors now await U.S. inflation data release, which is expected to begin reflecting tariff-driven cost pressures in the world's largest economy as companies pass on expenses to consumers. Back home, the technology sector led sectoral declines, falling 0.7%. Among other stocks, gambling firm Entain dropped 3.6% despite forecasting its annual core profit outlook above market expectations. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
FTSE 100 rises after US-China trade truce extension; key economic data in focus
(Reuters) -Britain's blue-chip index rose on Tuesday as an extended U.S.-China tariff truce bolstered investor sentiment, while markets also focused on the day's key economic data releases. As of 0947 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE 100 gained 0.3% and the midcap index was little changed. The 90-day extension of the tariff truce between the world's two largest economies provided temporary relief to investors about global trade, effectively postponing potentially damaging triple-digit duties on Chinese exports to the U.S. In UK markets, Spirax surged 13%, leading gains on the blue-chip index, after the manufacturing group forecast organic sales growth accelerating in the second half of the year on a strong order book. Bellway inched 1.4% higher after it expects to build more homes in its new financial year. The outlook lifted the broader UK housing sector index by 0.7%. London-listed Atalaya Mining Copper climbed 7.1% after the miner raised its copper production outlook for the financial year 2025, lifting the broader industrial metal miners index by 0.5%. Economic data on the day revealed Britain's jobs market continues to soften, with payrolls declining for a sixth consecutive month and vacancies decreasing further. However, persistent wage growth underscored the Bank of England's cautious approach toward interest rate cuts. With the central bank's policymakers split over the risks of a hiring slump and a pickup in inflation pressures, the new figures pointed to a continued cooling of the labour market, albeit less sharply than in recent months. Investors now await U.S. inflation data release, which is expected to begin reflecting tariff-driven cost pressures in the world's largest economy as companies pass on expenses to consumers. Back home, the technology sector led sectoral declines, falling 0.7%. Among other stocks, gambling firm Entain dropped 3.6% despite forecasting its annual core profit outlook above market expectations. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Recorder
17 hours ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
FTSE 100 rises after US-China trade truce extension; key economic data in focus
Britain's blue-chip index rose on Tuesday as an extended U.S.-China tariff truce bolstered investor sentiment, while markets also focused on the day's key economic data releases. As of 0947 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE 100 gained 0.3% and the midcap index was little changed. The 90-day extension of the tariff truce between the world's two largest economies provided temporary relief to investors about global trade, effectively postponing potentially damaging triple-digit duties on Chinese exports to the U.S. In UK markets, Spirax surged 13%, leading gains on the blue-chip index, after the manufacturing group forecast organic sales growth accelerating in the second half of the year on a strong order book. Bellway inched 1.4% higher after it expects to build more homes in its new financial year. The outlook lifted the broader UK housing sector index by 0.7%. London-listed Atalaya Mining Copper climbed 7.1% after the miner raised its copper production outlook for the financial year 2025, lifting the broader industrial metal miners index by 0.5%. Economic data on the day revealed Britain's jobs market continues to soften, with payrolls declining for a sixth consecutive month and vacancies decreasing further. However, persistent wage growth underscored the Bank of England's cautious approach toward interest rate cuts. With the central bank's policymakers split over the risks of a hiring slump and a pickup in inflation pressures, the new figures pointed to a continued cooling of the labour market, albeit less sharply than in recent months. Investors now await U.S. inflation data release, which is expected to begin reflecting tariff-driven cost pressures in the world's largest economy as companies pass on expenses to consumers. Back home, the technology sector led sectoral declines, falling 0.7%. Among other stocks, gambling firm Entain dropped 3.6% despite forecasting its annual core profit outlook above market expectations.
Reuters
18 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
UK's Bellway expects to build more homes as profitability picks up
Aug 12 (Reuters) - Britain's Bellway (BWY.L), opens new tab expects to build more homes in its new financial year after higher completions and average selling prices helped to boost profit margins in the year ended July 31, the housebuilder said on Tuesday. The company's upbeat tone about Britain's housing market, which has been bogged down by elevated interest rates, sticky inflation and planning delays, sent its London-listed shares and those of its peers higher in early trade. Rivals Taylor Wimpey (TW.L), opens new tab, Barratt Redrow (BTRW.L), opens new tab and Berkeley (BKGH.L), opens new tab have sounded more downbeat in recent months. "We have entered the new financial year with a healthy forward order book and outlet opening programme and, if market conditions remain stable, we are well-positioned to deliver further growth in FY26," Bellway CEO Jason Honeyman said in a trading update. The company, which builds everything from social housing and one-bedroom apartments to six-bedroom family homes and luxury penthouses, said it completed 8,749 homes in the year ended July 31, up 14.3% year-on-year. The average selling price was around 316,000 pounds ($425,304), slightly ahead of its expectations. It expects to build around 9,200 homes in the year ending July 2026 and increase cash generation for shareholder returns. At 0730 GMT, Bellway's shares were up 1.9% at 2,484 pence, in a UK housing index (.FTNMX402020), opens new tab up 1.4%. "In our view the market will improve in the coming year, suggesting there are upside risks to company guidance" RBC Capital Markets analysts said in a note. UK home sales surged in early 2025 as first-time buyers rushed to complete purchases ahead of the March 31 expiry of temporary stamp duty relief. Bellway, which will publish full fiscal 2025 results on October 14, said its underlying operating margin was expected to approach 11%, compared with 10% the year before. Its forward order book stood at 5,307 homes on July 31, up from 5,144 a year earlier. ($1 = 0.7430 pounds)
