Bellway ups dividend after first-half profit rise

LONDON, March 25 (Reuters) - British housebuilder Bellway said it would reward shareholders after it posted a 53 percent rise in pretax profit for the six months to end-January, as it increased volumes of new homes to meet demand in a robust property market.

The company reported profit of 158.9 million pounds ($236 million) on revenue up 19 percent to 831.2 million pounds on Wednesday, and said it would increase the payout to investors at the half-year stage by 56 percent to 25 pence a share.

Bellway (LSE: BWY.L - news) group said in February it had completed 3,754 new homes in the period, up 15.7 percent on a year earlier.

Analysts expect the company to report pretax profit for the year to end-July of 330 million pounds, against 246 million pounds in 2014. ($1 = 0.6737 pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by James Davey)