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HOUSEBUILDER Bellway said it was facing difficult times as it unveiled a 3.9 per cent drop in interim pre-tax profits.

The Newcastle group said reservations were down nine per cent amid a shift in consumer confidence.

First-time buyers have been particularly hit by the credit crunch crisis and are struggling to meet lender demands for higher deposits, the company said in a statement to the Stock Exchange yesterday.

Bellway - the UK's fourth largest housebuilder - reported pre-tax profits of £96.9m in the six months to the end of January, against £100.8m the previous year.

But the firm said its strategy of forward selling helped soften the blow of a tougher housing market, with £670m-worth of forward orders so far secured - 88 per cent of its revised annual target for the whole financial year.

Bellway, which targets the lower end of the housing market, said conditions were particularly challenging in the Midlands, Yorkshire and the North-West, but said that demand and keen pricing in the affordable sector of the market was holding up well in Scotland and the south of England.

The number of houses sold in the six-month period fell slightly to 3,252 against 3,264 in the same period last year, leaving housing turnover up 0.5 per cent to £568.4m. The average house price increased marginally to £174,800 from £173,300.

Bellway shares were down 21p, or three per cent, to 789p.

8:49am Thursday 27th March 2008

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