Bovis first-half profits slump

Published 26th Aug 2008

Housebuilder Bovis Homes reported a slump in first-half profits and slashed its interim dividend on Tuesday following "the toughest period of trading it has experienced in its life as a public company".

Bovis reported an adjusted pretax profit of 11.7 million pounds for the six months to June 30, compared with 58.4 million in the same period the previous year, as revenues fell to 149.3 million pounds from 259.9 million.

The nation's fifth-biggest housebuilder by market value blamed challenging market conditions for the dividend cut.

Shareholders will receive 5 pence a share, down from 17.5 pence last year. The company had previously indicated that it intended to pay 20 pence per share.

"In light of the current difficult trading conditions, the board considers this reduction to be a prudent action to take," Bovis said in a statement.

In a telephone interview with Reuters, Bovis Chief Executive David Ritchie called on the government to support the housing market by examining ways to unlock mortgage liquidity.

"People need to be able to access finance to buy property, and anything we can do to assist people getting on the housing ladder must be good," he said.

Shares in the company, which have underperformed the FTSE All Share Construction & Materials Index FTASX2350 by 18 percent since the year began, were down 1.9 percent at 420-3/4 pence at 9:25 a.m.

Last week, rival Persimmon also reported a sharp fall in first-half profits, blaming the difficulty in obtaining mortgages.

Source: ' reuters '

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