Bellway said it remained positive as it moves into its new fiscal year despite a sharp decline in pretax profit for fiscal 2024.

The house builder said Tuesday that pretax profit for the year ended July 31 was 226.1 million pounds ($295.3 million) compared with 532.6 million pounds in fiscal 2023, and in line with the company's expectations.

Revenue in the year slipped to 2.38 billion pounds from 3.41 billion pounds, as housing completions fell to 7,654 from 10,945 the year prior. The average selling price fell slightly to 307,909 from 310,306.

The company said customer confidence gradually improved over the year, driven by moderation of both mortgage interest rates and consumer price inflation, and an increase in wages.

"The combination of these improving trading conditions and our strong outlet opening program has generated a healthy increase in the year end order book. As a result, we are well-placed to deliver a material increase in volume output in financial year 2025," Chief Executive Jason Honeyman said.

The board proposed a total dividend of 54.0 pence a share, down from the prior year's 140.0 pence. It reflects reduced underlying earnings, it said.

Since the start of the new fiscal year, customer demand has been robust and if market conditions remain stable, the company targets to deliver the completion of at least 8,500 homes with volume output expected to be weighted toward the first half of the year, it said.