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LONDON (Alliance News) - Taylor Wimpey PLC on Wednesday said its pretax profit surged in the first half of 2015, driven by higher housing completions and better selling prices, prompting the company to say it will return a further GBP300 million in cash to shareholders.
The FTSE 100-listed housebuilder said its pretax profit for the six months to the end of June was GBP237.2 million, up from GBP197.3 million a year earlier, as revenue for the group increased to GBP1.34 billion from GBP1.19 billion.
Taylor Wimpey said it sold 5,842 homes in the UK in the first half, up from 5,695, at an average selling price of GBP225,000, up from GBP206,000.
On the back of the results, the company said it has proposed a further GBP300 million cash return to its shareholders, increased from the GBP250 million it returned last year. It will pay an interim dividend of 0.49 pence per share, up from 0.24 pence last year.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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