The national housebuilder expects to record pre-tax profits of about £45m for the six months ended December 31, 2012 – a 108% growth on the same period a year ago.
Private completions were up 5.3% to 4,241 out of a total of 5,085 units, with private forward sales up 35.5% to £536.5m The operating margin also increased to 8.4% from 6.4%.
The housebuilder said it was also investing for the future by securing higher margin land in the south-east and across the rest of the country to drive growth.
Barratt said the outlook for the housing market was improving. It pointed to market expectations of an increase in mortgage availability in 2013 and that the company was on track to deliver around half of its full year completions from higher margin land.
The group is due to receive £34m in low-cost development loans in 2013 from the government’s Get Britain Building Scheme, which is designed to kickstart stalled developments.
