Global construction group Lend Lease has lifted its first half profit by 25 per cent, buoyed by a positive residential housing market, but still expects a dip in full year earnings.
In the six months to December 31, Lend Lease posted a net profit of $315.6 million, a 25.4 per cent improvement on $251.6m.
Revenue in the period fell 9.4 per cent to $5.898 billion.
The company will pay an unfranked interim dividend of 27c on March 18, an increase on 22c a year prior.
"We remain comfortable with consensus net profit after tax expectations of $604m to $628m for fiscal 2015," managing director Steve McCann said. This result is well below the $822.9m posted a year earlier, which was buoyed by the sale of Lend Lease’s share in the Bluewater Shopping Centre in England.
Overall though, Mr McCann said the outlook for Lend Lease remained strong.
"We have adhered to our strategic objectives and focused on disciplined execution of our portfolio of projects," he said.
“Over the medium term we will look towards measured growth in international markets to deliver greater geographic diversity of earnings."
Mr McCann said residential markets in Australia and the UK remained strong, bolstering revenue from pre-sold homes, and the company’s overall global development pipeline now stands at $40.4bn, including a number of urban-renewal projects.
In November, Lend Lease said it was on track to deliver growth for shareholders, with an extensive development pipeline and backlog of construction revenues. The group also said it was aggressively expanding into the US market.
Lend Lease recently secured a $2.6 billion contract to design and construct the NorthConnex road project in North Sydney.