Gleeson has reported a halving of its pre-tax profit but expects margins to improve in the second half of the year.

The housebuilder, in an update for the six months to 31 December, reported pre-tax profit of £3.6m, down from 7.2% for the same period last year.

The drop is despite a 4.2% increase in turnover to £157.9m and a rise in the number of homes sold from 769 to 801. Gleeson’s gross profit on homes sold fell by 8.6% to £31.9m year-on-year, while its gross homes sales margin fell from 24.5% to 20.6%.