Shares in housing services firm Mears Group (LON:MER) rose over 3 percent on Wednesday morning, after the group said it had made “encouraging progress”.

In a trading update ahead of first-half results, the company said revenues in its housing division had stabilised and that full year results were likely to be in line with market expectations.

The group, who supply supporting services to the property and care sectors, said the housing division had secured new work of around £70 million. The care division also had a ‘good’ first half.

The housing bidding pipeline was “considerable” and included two opportunities that were very significant in scale, Mears said.

“The group has made encouraging progress and is at an advanced bidding stage on a number of these,” it added.

Shares in Mears Group (LON:MER) are currently up 3.18 percent at 324.00 (0859GMT).