Bellway says confident of record year results

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"With the strength of our forward sales, combined with the group's traditionally low to middle market profile, the board remains confident of reporting another record performance," the low cost home builder said on Friday in a statement.

It expected a record operating profit for the year to end July as legal completions in the first half rose 10 percent from a year ago, with average selling prices edging up to 173,000 pounds from 167,000 pounds.

Reservations rose 6 percent in the six months to end January, as it is trading from more outlets, which helped boost the order book to 653 million pounds from 562 million.

Shares in Bellway, which have moved in line with other housebuilders over the past six months, rose 3.1 percent to 1,469 pence by 8:35 a.m., valuing the firm at around 1.6 billion pounds.

"Bellway's order book is 16 percent higher than this time last year. This puts the group in a strong position to deliver good earnings growth," Flor O'Donoghue, an analyst at Davy Research, said.

Analysts took a positive view from the strong forward book, which came amid rising concerns that the market conditions may not be as benign as in 2006 because rising borrowing costs make first time buyers and builders of lower priced homes more sensitive to rate changes.

Home builders had a strong run in 2006, hitting record highs, bolstered by a flurry of consolidations and a mild recovery from a year long slowdown in house prices, but they got off to a weak start in 2007 as a surprise third rate rise in six months dampened sentiment.

Bellway, which sells many properties off plan, said the majority of the increase in its legal completions had been achieved through private home sales, while social housing completions rose only slightly.