North-eastern housebuilder Bellway has called on the City to raise its share-price rating after again turning in record results.
Pre-tax profit rose 31% to £89.1m for the year to 31 July, with operating margins increasing from 14.5% to 15.1% and turnover going up 26% to £634m.
But asked about Bellway's share price, finance director Andrew Robson said: "Now you're hurting me. The price/earnings ratio is very low. When you look at our track record and what we're capable of, we obviously think that a re-rating is long overdue." Bellway's share price rose 4%, or 11p, to 277.5p after the results.
Robson expressed relief that the South-east's housing market had gone off the boil at an affordable level that did not force buyers out of the market.
