House sales at Galliford Try up by a quarter

Shares in Galliford Try dipped 1% in early trading despite a bullish trading statement to the City.

In a trading update ahead of full year results in the autumn the company said its housing completions had increased 27% over the last 12 months and that prices had risen 10%.

The group added that its construction division had an order book of around £1.7bn which included the £790m Forth Road Crossing. The figure is down slightly on last year’s £1.8bn but the company insisted that the division’s performance was “resilient” in a difficult market.

Galliford Try also revealed it had net cash of more than £30m up to 30 June this year, ahead of forecasts.

Chief executive Greg Fitzgerald said: “Two years into our transformational house building expansion plan, we are on target to meet our objectives.  In addition, we have maintained a high quality construction order book, winning a series of valuable projects during the period, and maintaining excellent cash balances.  Our financial strength and the spread of our activities mean that, subject to the economic uncertainties affecting our markets, we enter the new financial year with confidence.”

Full year results, which are due to be posted on 14 September, are expected to be in line with current market expectations.