Takeover interest helped housebuilder Wilson Bowden weather the storm of disappointing profits today.
Bowden made a difficult call on the housing market 18 months ago and have since been recovering. Rather than sell off-plan and pocket the money, it held out for better prices.
The group is making a concerted effort to ramp up sales to help offset weaker profit margins and the benefits should show through in the second half.
Sales rates are showing signs of improvement and more orders were taken in August than July, pushing the forward book to a record, despite the interest rate hike. This time last year the shares were 1120p . They eased to 1700p today.
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No one is taking profits while the 33 per cent stake of the chairman looks like a weak hold. HBOS is already running a sliderule over the numbers. It is unlikely to be alone.