Bellway has reassured investors that it remains on track to hit its full-year profit target, even as customer demand has softened in recent weeks due to the impact of the Middle East war.
It wouldn’t have been a surprise if Bellway had cut its guidance, so reaffirming its volume output guidance of between 9,300 and 9,500 homes for the year should go a long way with investors.
In a trading update covering the period from 1 February to 29 May, the housebuilder said it expects FY26 underlying operating profit to land within its previously guided range of £320m to £330m.
They said Spring trading started well, with a marked improvement on the autumn, but a rise in mortgage rates took some of the wind out of the sails through April and May.
Chief executive Jason Honeyman was relatively upbeat, noting that the business “continues to perform robustly in an increasingly challenging market.” He pointed to the group’s forward order book as a key source of support.
Private reservations slipped 6.2% to an average of 151 a week, down from 161 a year earlier. The forward order book stood at 5,345 homes worth £1,570m at the end of May, lower than the 5,759 homes and £1,650m booked twelve months ago. Encouragingly, cancellations stayed low at 10%, and reservation rates remain above their first-half levels.
The group is on course to open more than 40 new outlets in the second half, with another strong programme lined up for FY27. Land buying has been disciplined but active, with 6,744 plots contracted since August, including a sizeable 1,900-plot anchor site in Dunfermline that will feed both Scottish divisions. The strategic land bank now sits at around 47,000 plots.