LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Scottish housebuilder Springfield Properties said it expects full-year profits to be "significantly ahead of market expectations" after a strong improvement in margins drove impressive earnings growth in the first half.
Adjusted profit before tax in the six months ended 30 November totalled £3.8m, up 90% year-on-year, helped by a 300-basis point improvement in the gross margin to 17.7%, as well as a "sustained focus on cost control and land sales", the company said.

Total revenues were down 13% at £105.6m, with completions falling to 361 from 432 the year before.

Springfield said that the start certain affordable housing contracts was delayed during the period due to uncertainty around availability of Scottish government funding, but activity has increased since period-end following the Scottish Budget in December.

The company also said on Monday that it had entered an agreement with a Barratt Redrow subsidiary for the sale of 2,480 plots of undeveloped land for £64.2m in cash, which will be received over four years and used to "accelerate the removal of the Group's bank debt and to capitalise on the significant opportunities in the North of Scotland".

In addition, Springfield is in talks regarding the sale of further future land holdings on a number of sites to Barratt Redrow.

Net bank debt stood at £62.9m by the end of the half, down from £93.4m at the start of the period.

Shares were up 10.4% at 108.75p by 1008 GMT.

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