Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey seeing strong spring demand

LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - British housebuilder Taylor Wimpey said it had seen a strong start to the spring selling season as it posted a 68 percent rise in 2014 profit and more than doubled its final dividend.

The company, which completed 12,454 homes across the UK in 2014, reported adjusted pretax profit of 450.1 million pounds, broadly in line with market expectations.

"The beginning of spring selling season has seen trading at the better end of expectations," said Chief Executive Pete Redfern in a statement on Tuesday.

The company said it would pay a final dividend of 1.32 pence per share, up from 0.47 pence a year ago, in addition to special payouts, including 7.68 pence per share already announced for July.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Li-mei Hoang)