12 August 2025
If you are covering Bellway’s latest financial results, please find below a comment from Oli Creasey, head of property research at Quilter Cheviot:
“Bellway’s full year trading statement shows the company is doing okay in terms of revenue growth, but little everything else is a little flat. The company’s completions were 8,749 for the year, up 14% compared to last year, and the average sale price was £316k, up 2.6%. Both figures are ahead of guidance, and combining to generate a revenue uplift of 17% the previous year.
“However, the company is coming off a particularly low base in 2024 – despite growing almost 12% in the year, the reservation rate per outlet was just 0.57x, and 0.62x in the six months to the end July. That number is low compared to history and peers; for comparison, Taylor Wimpey announced an equivalent sales rate of 0.79x recently for a similar time period.
“Bellway’s operating margin shows little sign of improvement despite the increase in revenue. There is limited detail so far, but management have guided to a full year margin “approaching 11%”, which is not much of an improvement from the 10% recorded in 2024, though this has been previously guided and isn’t a surprise to investors. The company’s outlook guides to a further 5% increase in numbers of houses sold next year, though it also guides to flat outlet numbers and a flat sales rate year-on-year.
“Management notes the Government’s planning reforms, although they are not yet feeling the benefit as local authorities take time to adapt to the new plans. They also note that while this supply-side reform is helpful, the Government will also need to address demand-side constraints – affordability - facing first-time buyers if it wants to meet its own housing targets.”
