Bovis Homes doubles up

Bovis Homes doubled its profits in the first half of the year as it cut the cost of building houses while selling prices held fast.

The housebuilder made £8.1 million on revenues of £134m, as its operating margin rose from 4.2 to 7.5 per cent.

Chief executive David Ritchie said that if the market remained stable, the firm could look forward to “growing volumes, increasing average sales price, and further improving margins” that could hit 10 per cent by the year-end.