Housing group draws on international base to stay one step ahead.

Taylor Woodrow says it expects to make an operating profit ahead of market expectations for the first six months of 2005, despite completions in the UK falling 17%, and average selling prices in the dropping 3% to £194,000.

In a statement to the stock exchange, the housing group said that it had kept ahead of the market thanks to its disproportionate investment in North America in the last three years. It said that it had increased its landbank by 16%, and its total order book by 9% to £1.6bn, thanks to performance on the other side of the Atlantic, and in Spain and Gibraltar.

Although the group expects profits to be slightly down on the same period in 2004, it remains confident that long-term prospects are good. Short term, it expects continued pressure on margins in the UK, but says that between the home, North American and Spanish markets it remains well placed to deliver future growth.

Taylor Woodrow will announce its half-year results on 6 September.