Telford Homes hikes divi despite results decline

A lack of investment during the credit crunch and a subdued housing market hurt interim results at Telford Homes, although the East London residential developer is buying land again and positive about the future. Profit before tax for the six months ended 30 September dropped to £1.5m from £6.5m, but was slightly narrower including exceptional items, down to £2m from £5.7m in 2009.The company's decision not to buy new land during the recession caused a slip in revenue to £58.2m from £85.9m. The move significantly reduced the potential output of completed homes from 2010 to 2012. "As a result of the cautious approach to land acquisition that the board adopted, we have successfully weathered the downturn, and the group's diversified business model has allowed us to continue to build affordable housing and limit our exposure to the market," said chief executive Andrew Wiseman who hands over to Jon Di-Stefano in July."The placing earlier this year has already enabled the group to recommence investment in land, and this positions us well for future growth."Over 250 new sales have been achieved since 1 April and 133 open market homes were legally completed during the period, though that was down from 224 a year ago.Telford is maintaining a cautious approach to the rate of investment in new developments given the mortgage market and continuing economic uncertainty.But new sales secured over the last few months, including overseas sales, has been "encouraging", while the emerging Olympic development and ongoing shortage of new homes in the area will result in "opportunities" for the business.There's a dividend of 1.25p a share, up from 0.75p.