Strong growth in US offsets poor UK performance at housebuilder where operating profits fell 22%.

Taylor Woodrow today announced a 22% fall in UK operating profits to £233.4m, blaming a weak housing market.

A strong performance from the US business, however, which accounted for 49% of group operating profit compared with 33% the year before, offset the poor UK performance.

Overall group pre-tax profit rose by 2% to £411m thanks to a thriving market in the US. Operating profit in the US rose more than 50%to £199.6m, helped by the fact that markets like Florida are enjoying employment growth.

In the UK turnover dropped 15% to £1.64bn, and completions fell by almost 10% to 8178. Average sales prioce dropped from £197,000 to £185,000, "attributable to a very competitive market and a higher proportion of social and apartment completions than last year," according to chief executive Iain Napier.