Bellway shares slipped on Tuesday after a relatively robust interim update was overshadowed by a slowdown in post-period trading activity.
The housebuilder completed 4,702 homes in the six months to 31 January 2026, up 2.7% on the same period last year. The average selling price rose to £322,180 from £310,581.
As a result, underlying operating profit edged up 1.5% to £159m, though margins slipped slightly to 10.5% from 11%. The housebuilder flagged £10.7m in costs associated with legacy building-safety remediation work, which is a theme across most housebuilders currently.
The interim dividend was lifted to 23p per share from 21p, and the group’s £150m buyback programme, launched last October, has already seen around £64m of shares repurchased. Bellway expects full-year dividend cover of 2.5 times.
The balance sheet remains in decent shape, with modest net debt of £72m after returning £105.3m to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.
Operationally, private reservation rates held broadly steady, and Bellway retained its five-star homebuilder status for the tenth year running. The group also opened its new timber frame facility, Bellway Home Space, which has begun supplying frames for completions later this year.
But recent trading has shown signs of a slowdown.
In the six weeks since 1 February, the private reservation rate, including bulk sales, was 0.70 per outlet per week, down slightly from 0.76 in the comparable period last year. Excluding bulk sales, however, the rate was exactly in line with the prior year at 0.66. The forward order book stood at 5,311 homes worth £1.55bn as at 13 March, compared with 5,582 homes valued at £1.58bn a year earlier.
Despite the slowdown, Bellway has upgraded its full-year volume guidance to 9,300-9,500 homes, up from 8,749 completed last year. The average selling price is now expected to be around £325,000, above previous guidance of £320,000.
Full-year underlying operating profit is expected in the range of £320m to £330m, with margins anticipated to hold around first-half levels.
Bellway shares were down 6% at the time of writing on Tuesday.