The company believes it can raise its profit margin by just over one percentage point by taking advantage of economies of scale.
Deputy managing director Colin Cole said that Westbury would build 25% more homes in the second half of this year than it did in the first half to improve its operating margin, which was 15.8% before exceptional costs and goodwill depreciation.
The firm, which announced its interims this week, said it had built 2031 houses in the six months to 31 August.
Cole said: "For the full year, we are looking for 4500 homes. We will continue to improve the operating margin, increasing it by volume.
The target is to reach a 17% margin."
The construction of more houses leads to more efficient economies of scale and the reduction in overhead costs.
The average price of a Westbury home is £192,300. It has risen 21% since last year's interim results were announced.
Cole said that the South–east market was performing better than reports suggest.
The target is to reach a 17% margin
Colin Cole of Westbury
He said: "For the past few months, the South-east has been getting stronger. We've been getting more volume and more reservations."
The best performing areas, however, are northern England, South Wales and the Midlands.
The interim results showed a large increase in pre-tax profit – it had risen 35% to £47.6m on the same period in 2002.
Turnover rose from £345m last year to £409.4m.
Westbury also reduced its gearing – net debt as a proportion of company value – to 69%, down from 88% in August 2002, fulfilling a promise in May last year after the acquisition of Prowting Homes.
The housebuilder's prefabrication housing arm Space4 continued to produce poor results. It made a loss of £1.5m in the first-half. The firm said that it had turned the corner and will break even by the end of the financial year.
Westbury also announced that it has appointed former Thistle Hotels finance director Ian Durrant as a non-executive director.
No comments yet