Redrow raised its dividend by 50 per cent after posting another set of record results in its first half, buoyed by Help to Buy, low mortgage rates and rising house prices. The Wales-based housebuilder said demand for new homes remained 'robust' and was confident it would meet its growth targets this year, also thanks to the Government's recently announced £44billion reforms designed to boost construction. Redrow posted a 17 per cent increase in revenues to £890million for the six months to the end of December last year. Pre-tax profits in the period rose 25 per cent to £176million. Blake Tower Penthouse: A former YMCA hostel was redeveloped into 74 art-inspired apartments by Redrow. The stellar performance was underpinned by a 14 per cent rise in legal completions to 2,811, with the average selling price lifting 9 per cent to £330,000. Its order book for the second half of the year was also bright, rising 5 per cent to £1.1billion for the six months ending in December. In light of the record set of results, Redrow said it will pay an interim dividend of 9p per share, a 50 per cent increase on last year's interim dividend. The dividend increase is short of the 83 per cent hike announced in September. Shares in the FTSE 250 listed group rose 2.8 per cent, or 17p, to 610.50p in morning trading. The group said in a statement: 'Demand for new homes remains robust with good availability of mortgages at competitive rates. This, together with the Government's commitment to increase the supply of new homes, provides us with the confidence to continue our strategy to grow the business.' Redrow, like other housebuilders, has been boosted by Government-backed loan schemes like Help to Buy. It said that in the first half of the financial year just under 40 per cent of private reservations utilised Help to Buy. Henry Croft, research analyst at Accendo Markets, said: 'Given Redrow's smaller position in the market compared with bigger brothers Barratt Developments, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey, the company can afford to bolster growth through increasing completions and stands out as one of the only housebuilders consistently improving this metric by double digits. 'Crucially, however, is whether this improvement in completions can be maintained after the UK's departure from the EU without adversely impacting prices and margins, and whether the sector can weather the threat of reduced labour and demand that comes along with Brexit. 'How the sector navigates the key headwind following the negotiating intermission and the second half of the Brexit theatrical performance will therefore be key. Will they drastically increase volumes and hope demand doesn't take a hit after Brexit? Or stay steady as she goes, maintain the course and hope slower supply increase will filter through into prices?' Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.
UK housebuilder Redrow has posted a record set of first-half results, including a 2.8% increase in revenues to £890m ( $1.2m ) and pre-tax profits up first-half to to £176m. The healthy figures have prompted the company to pay an interim dividend of 9p per share, an 17% increase on a quarter payment. In addition, Redrow 's 610.50p order book is up 5% to £1.1n, and company shares rose 2.8% to 610.50p .