Friday preview: Bellway unveils interim results

12th Dec 2013 15:01

UK residential property developer Bellway is expected to unveil an increase in sales on Friday when it reports its interim results.The company, like other property businesses, has been supported by government schemes that boost mortgage lending including Help to Buy."We expect a strong update from Bellway with the group benefitting from increased outlets and a higher sales rate due to improved sentiment in the housing market and the benefits emanating from the Help to Buy scheme," Numis analyst Chris Millington said, issuing the stock a 'buy' rating and target price of 1,690p. "We suspect this will lead to a higher forward order book, which stood up 47% at £644m at September 29th - which should bode well in light of our forecast for 15% volume growth in the current year."The broker also anticipates the business will confirm that average sales prices are rising. These factors, alongside margin growth of 150 basis points in 2014, lead Numis to forecast 34% growth in earnings per share and should lead to return on capital employed (ROCE) approaching 15%, the analyst added. "In our view Bellway remains well placed to grow volumes faster than the sector average which alongside a prudent balance sheet (with very low debt and shared equity balances) offers a strong risk/reward in the context of the sector."Friday December 13thINTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBraemar Shipping Services, Carphone Warehouse Group, Charles Stanley Group, Edge Performance VCT 'D' Shares, SABMiller, Synergy Health, TalkTalk Telecom Group , Wynnstay Properties, Young & Co's Brewery 'A' Shares, Young & Co's Brewery (Non-Voting)QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATEBarclays, Carnival, Energy XXI (Bermuda) (DI)INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTSProducer Price Index (US) (13:30)IMSSBellwaySPECIAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBlackRock Greater Europe Inv Trust, Keystone Inv TrustEGMSHexaware Technologies Ltd. GDS (Reg S)AGMSAberdeen Latin American Income Fund Ltd , Bellway, Earthport, Paragon Entertainment Ltd (DI)FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATEBlackRock Greater Europe Inv Trust, Craneware, Plexus Holdings, Sherborne Investors (Guernsey) 'B' (Reg S), UtilitywiseRD