Housebuilder turnover falls 拢450m but forward order book is up on 2008

National housebuilder Bellway suffered a loss before tax of 拢36.6m in 2009, the group revealed today.

The news was released in the group鈥檚 preliminary results for the year ending 31 July 2009, which showed the group turnover slashed from almost 拢1,150.5m in 2008 to just under 拢700m in 2009.

Completed sales of homes dropped by over 2000, with the firm selling just over 6,500 homes in 2008, compared with just over 4,000 this year.

Meanwhile, the average price also slumped to around 拢154,000, from almost 拢170,000 in 2008m.

However, the group said it had secured a forward order book at 30 September of 拢349.4m 鈥� up from the 拢342m it secured in 2008.

In January Bellway wrote down the value of its land by 拢66.3m. It said that further write downs were not necessary in the second half as markets had stabilised.

Commenting on the results, chairman Howard Dawe said: 鈥淚n the summer of 2008 the ghosts of the last major recession loomed large. The primary strategy was simply to repeat the lessons learnt in previous downturns, make cash generation a priority and also sell homes at positive margins throughout the financial year.鈥�

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