Record year for Galliford Try

On the housebuilding side, completions rose from 4,607 to 4,977, including the company's affordable housing operation. Private completions from the Linden Homes arm fell from 2,887 to 2,769, as the average number of sales outlets contracted from 70 to 62. Executive chairman Greg Fitzgerald pointed to the planning process for the fall in outlets, but this situation has since improved - this number has already risen to 73 in the current financial year, with a target of 80 for the year as a whole.

Price inflation and changes in the sales mix pushed up average selling prices by 7 per cent, to £327,000. This helped lift operating margins from 15.1 per cent to 16 per cent, although excluding land sales of £51m, margin progression was more modest at 14.7 per cent, compared with 14.6 per cent in the previous comparable period. The business also benefited from the acquisition of Yorkshire-based Shepherd Homes for £31m, which brought a land bank of 515 units.

Affordable homes completions comprising multi-occupancy units nearly doubled to 408, equivalent to 1,800 individual apartments, up from 1,500 a year earlier. And while operating margins rose from 2.1 per cent to a still modest 2.9 per cent, operating profit nearly doubled to £9.4m.

On the construction side, new business wins and the acquisition of Miller Construction in July 2014 pushed turnover up by 55 per cent to £1.29bn, while margins improved from 1 per cent to 1.2 per cent, touching 1.5 per cent in the second half. The order book rose from an already impressive £3bn to £3.8bn, three-quarters of which comes from the public sector. Crucially, over two-thirds of the total order book is within framework agreements, and 90 per cent of the current year's targeted revenue has already been secured.

Analysts at broker Whitman Howard are expecting adjusted earnings per share of 132p for the current year, up from 117p.