Bovis sees order book up

House builder Bovis said its full-year underlying profit will meet its expectations, echoing comments from peers of a stabilisation in the sector, and supported by a healthier forward order book.

The company, one of the smaller midcap listed house builders, added it is still in line to benefit from a inventory provision release after an assessment of the value of land assets.

Bovis, which had a sales order of 643 homes for 2010 delivery, up by 218 homes year-on-year, said it completed 1,803 homes in 2009 compared with 1,817 in 2008.

Meanwhile the average selling price of houses rose by 2.5 percent to 154,600 pounds, it added.

House sales and prices stabilised in the second half of 2009 after one of the sharpest drops in activity in decades, helped by continued low interest rates.

But Bovis offered a note of caution on 2010 trading.

"The Group continues to expect trading conditions in 2010 to be subdued relative to historical levels, given ongoing economic uncertainty" said Bovis in a trading update.

"This all said, longer-term market demand and supply trends remain positive" the group added.