HOUSEBUILDER Bellway has said Scottish independence would not impact its growth strategy north of the Border.
Speaking as the company revealed its business in Scotland delivered more completions in the six months to January 31 than any other part of the UK, group finance director Keith Adey said there were strong, positive market conditions ahead of the prospect of a second referendum.
“If you do end up with a scenario where Scotland becomes a different country to the UK, to separate that, it’s so embedded I can’t see how it becomes structurally a different country to invest in, in the way it’s different to invest in France,” he said. “The barriers to entry can’t be that great.”
Mr Adey said the 2014 independence referendum didn’t particularly affect the company, but that uncertainty was never welcome.
“Of course it has a degree of uncertainty for people but we’re still investing in Scotland and Scotland is doing very well for us. Demand is strong, we’re buying land and reservations are coming through well. We’ve got a good business so I don’t see how the referendum will change that.”
Bellway completed 390 homes in Scotland over the period at an average selling price of £198,000.
Overall interim revenue was up 5.9 per cent to £1.15 billion, with pre-tax profits up 9.3 per cent to £247.6 million as the number of completions reached 4,462, up 6.5 per cent.
The interim dividend increased by more than 10 per cent to 37.5p. Mr Adey said the group expected to continue to pay out a third of earnings on a full year basis.
Bellway’s shares closed at an all-time high yesterday, of 2,837p.
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