Builder upbeat on Irish prospects

Meath-headquartered housebuilder Abbey has expressed confidence in the Irish market and expects its UK operations to drive revenue growth next year.

The company — which does most of its business in Britain — yesterday reported a near 10% drop in annual pre-tax profits — from €12.1m to €10.9m — for the 12 months to the end of April.

Executive chairman Charles Gallagher said that while turnover is likely to remain static for the current financial year — revenue from Abbey’s core housebuilding operations jumped from €58m to €84.4m in the last year — expansion in Britain should result in a significant increase in the year to the end of Apr 2015.