House builder Abbey has reported pre-tax profits of €48.5m for the year to the end of April, up from €36.2m in the previous year, with operating profits rising 29% on the previous year to €45.3m.
Turnover climbed to €174.8m. A final dividend of 14.5 cent has been declared, giving a total dividend of 22 cent.
Abbey's house building division completed 730 sales, 454 in the UK and 276 in Ireland. The company says UK trading was 'significantly slower' in the fourth quarter, and that this trend has continued in the current year.
But the Irish operations had a very strong second half and are expected to account for much of the group's growth this year.
Abbey earned a profit of €1.8m from its share of a joint venture in Clonsilla in Dublin, while M&J Engineers reported profits of €2.1m.
The shares rose 10 cent to €5.60 in Dublin this morning.
