Takeover target Alfred McAlpine today reporteda 23 per cent rise in first-half pre-tax profits, as higher house prices helped lift earnings at the house building and construction group.
McAlpine, which is in talks with larger rival George Wimpey over a buyout of its main house building unit, said pre-tax profits for the six months ending June 30th rose to £26 million pounds from £21.2 million a year ago.
British builders have been consolidating to cut costs and lift margins by integrating operations. With this acquisition, Wimpey would have a market capitalisation of over £1 billion sterling, overtaking Persimmon and Berkeley Groupto become Britain's biggest house builder by market value.
McAlpine raised its interim dividend by 7.9 per cent from last year to 4.1p per share, and was upbeat over its performance for the rest of the year.
Shares in McAlpine surged yesterday, following news of Wimpey's interest, to close at 391p. At that price, McAlpine has a stock market value of around 414 million pounds.
PA