Pre-tax profit was up 24% to 拢52.9m on revenues up 12% to 拢1,264.9m.
Construction continues to generate the cash at Galliford Try but it is house-building that delivers the profits.
Its Linden Homes business made 拢61.5m operating profit on 拢362.7m revenue, a margin of 17%.
The construction division, by contrast, made just 拢8.5m from 拢738.6m. However, the margin improved from 1.0% to 1.2%, compared to the same period a year before, and the board expects construction margins to climb to 2% by 2018.
The third part of the group, Galliford Try Partnerships, made 拢4.5m on 拢150.2m revenue in the half-year.
Chief executive Peter Truscott commented: 鈥淟inden Homes has made strong progress on margins as well as increased outlet numbers and unit sales per outlet.聽 Our Partnerships business continues to see good demand for contracting in the affordable housing market, as registered provider clients assimilate the recent changes to their income profile; and importantly the mixed tenure development business is growing strongly.聽 The construction market continues to improve, although at a slower rate than anticipated; we have nevertheless further improved our order book to 拢3.7bn, with good visibility on projected revenue for this and the next financial year. Build cost increases have moderated and availability of skilled labour has improved across all regions.
鈥淟ooking forward, we are encouraged by the start we have made to the second half of the year.聽 Market conditions for Linden Homes have improved further since the turn of the year, and the pipeline for our Partnerships business continues to grow, while our construction business has good visibility on revenue for the next financial year.鈥�
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