BELLWAY shrugged off many of the effects of the downturn to increase sales, house selling prices and boost its profits by 50%.

The Newcastle-based housebuilder’s turnover jumped to £886.1m in the year to the end of July, from £768.3m in 2010, while pre-tax profits hit £67.2m, from £44.4m a year earlier.

The company also sold more homes - 4,922 homes against 4,595 - and the average price rose to £175,613 from £163,175.

On the back of the strong results, Bellway increased its final dividend by 30% to 8.8p.

Chairman Howard Dawe said: “Against a backdrop of ongoing economic uncertainty the group has performed very well in the year ended July 31.

“Bellway aims to continue to increase both volumes and average selling prices, the latter by way of ongoing changes in the product mix.

“This, combined with the improvement in the operating margin, should ensure that shareholder value continues to be enhanced.”