LONDON (Reuters) - British house builder Taylor Wimpey (L:TW) said on Wednesday it would return more money to shareholders after it built up its land bank in the first half and was boosted by strong demand in the property market.
The group, which pre-announced its results earlier this month, posted a 64 percent jump in adjusted pretax profit to 178.4 million pounds for the six months to June 29, and said it would increase its payout to shareholders by 50 million pounds to 250 million pounds in 2015.
Chief Executive Pete Redfern said the group, which sold 5,766 homes in the period, 11 percent more than a year ago, had invested significantly in land.
"The landbank has grown by about 10,000 plots over the last 12 months, with the biggest element of that over the last six months," he said in an interview on Wednesday.
"With a combination of an improved financial performance in the short term, and the fact that in the first half of 2014 we have got to the level of land that we think is the right strategic level for the business, we feel it's right to increase our planned cash return for 12 months from now."
Shares in Taylor Wimpey were trading up 1.8 percent to 116.7 pence.
Analyst Gavin Jago at Peel Hunt said that with the capital return, the shares offered a yield of about 7.5 percent from next year.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Sarah Young)