Henry Boot interim profit up, no impact from Brexit

25th Aug 2016 11:12

(ShareCast News) - Construction and property group Henry Boot reported a rise in first-half profit on the back of earlier-than-expected land sales and progress on its commercial property developments, and said it has not seen any impact from Brexit.In the six months to the end of June, pre-tax profit was up 48.6% to £20.8m, with earnings per share of 11.9p compared to 7.8p in the first half of 2015.Revenue for the period increased to £107.3m from £79.2m as a result of higher land sales and increased property development activity, slightly offset by delayed construction turnover.The company declared an interim dividend of 2.50p per share, up from 2.30p.Chairman Jamie Boot said: "I am very pleased to report that Henry Boot has performed strongly in the first half of 2016, concluding on some valuable strategic land sales in the period, and to see the larger commercial development schemes we have been preparing for some time are now finally on site."The result of the EU referendum in June 2016 gave rise to widespread cautious predictions regarding future activity levels within the UK focused property and construction sectors. However, two months after the vote, the board's expectations detailed in the company's trading update on 8 June 2016 remain unchanged."At 1120 BST, shares were up 0.8% to 206.60p.