Shares in house builder Abbey fell over 5% in Dublin today after it reported pre-tax profits of €26m for the six months to the end of October, a drop of 10% on the same period a year earlier.
Turnover rose from €91.5m to €99m, but the company said its margins had been affected by rising costs and a weaker housing market in England in October. Abbey said these conditions had continued through the winter. The UK housing market has been cooling after a series of interest rate rises by the Bank of England.
But Abbey said the Irish market had remained firm, and it expected a good performance in the next few months. The company's housebuilding division completed 203 sales in the UK and 150 in Ireland in the interim period, generating turnover of €88.5m and a profit of €23.6m. It has also taken steps to buy a small site in Prague, for which 16 flats and an office suite are planned.
Abbey said its UK plant hire business M&J Engineers made a profit of €1m in steady trading. It has declared n interim dividend of 11 cent per share.
Abbey shares closed 43 cent lower at €7.72 in Dublin this evening.
